Kingdom Hearts: Revive
by ShadowDragon94
Summary: Life will continue on, and adapting is the name of the game; however, if one were to have recently changed their own fates, become someone they never believed they'd be, and found themselves on the front lines of an age-old war, life can hand someone rather unexpected challenges, and at times, some rather interesting daily experiences. {Story#8 in The World Tree Series}
1. Chapter 1: And So It Begins

Chapter 1: And So It Begins

 **{Disney Castle: September 6th 2013, 6:20am}**

A single week had passed since Sora, Riku, and Kairi had returned to Disney Castle with the two newest members of the castle's residency, Roxas Lyster and Namine Olamayne. The two blondes had, for the most part, had a very interesting first week; however, between adapting to the singing wardrobes, the strange brooms and mops, the residents of the castle itself, and the training that Sora had begun to implement, they were just starting to adapt. Roxas was sound asleep in his bed in the early morning, not expecting to begin their training schedule until after eight; therefore, he was snuggled into the comforter and fluffy pillows of his bed, his room having been set up and clothing unpacked into the wardrobe and dresser. The birds were just beginning to sing, the sun barely up in the sky, when his door cracked open and a pair of sky-blue eyes glanced into the room to see the blonde boy asleep.

A faint smirk upon his features, the sixteen-year-old Keyblade Master crept into the room and up to the bed, before summoning an orb of water; another smirk, and Sora held it directly over Roxas's head with a thoughtful look before he waved his fingers in a downward swipe and promptly dropped the small orb atop his head. Roxas shot up in a surprised gasp as the cold water drenched him, and he looked at the sight of Sora standing before him in a pair of rather normal clothes that he hadn't actually seen him in, up until that day. Still sputtering slightly, Roxas leapt from the bed, shaking his head furiously as he tried to dispel the water while looking to Sora.

"Dammit, Sora! What the hell was that for?" he asked with a snap. The boy laughed faintly.

"Just getting you up and alert for training."

"Did you have to drown me?" he questioned.

"No, but I just felt like it..." Sora put his arms behind his head.

"Uhuh; well, I think I'd prefer not to go swimming in my room," Roxas said piteously as he began to wring out his shirt.

"Better get used to it...starting today, you, Namine, Kairi, and even Riku have some lovely, extensive, in-depth, grueling training to look forward to." Roxas gave him a long look of pure displeasure and faint fear as he eyed the chestnut-haired teenager before him.

Sora was dressed in a pair of dark pants, a dark gray tank-top with a Celtic red cross on it and wore his crown pendant, but lacked his gloves, jacket, and shoes. He seemed calm, but his hair was a bit messy, hinting that he had only just gotten up a bit ago. However, Roxas had other things on his mind at the moment.

"What kind of training is this?" Sora tilted his head, giving him a calm look.

"Keyblade training, spell training, summons, endurance, all of that...why else would I begin waking you up in the early hours of the morning if I wasn't going to begin giving you more training that will be further applicable to combat?" he explained. Roxas frowned.

"Okay...um...I reserve my question session for when we're at breakfast with everyone else." Sora nodded to him.

"Get dressed; Kairi's up and getting Namine up, I'm going to get Riku, and we'll meet you downstairs for breakfast in twenty minutes," he said with a smile. Roxas sighed as Sora walked towards the door.

"Alright, see you there." The boy waved and walked out with the click of the door.

Roxas took in a deep breath as he went over to his dresser and got out his clothes for the day. Admittedly, Roxas should have expected Sora to do what he had, only because the boy had a remarkable sense of humor and wit about him; however, he also was a bit different than Roxas had perceived him to be during the earlier part of knowing him, when he and Namine still lived in Twilight Town. Sora was witty, sweet, hyper, comical, and an honest, brave, kind, and true person – but he was also not all smiles and kindness. Since they had begun training, Roxas had taken note that Sora could be tough, even brutal, when it came to teaching them how to become apt Keyblade Wielders. Sora had never quite told them all the complexities of being a Keyblade Bearer, but both he and Namine had gathered that Sora hadn't told them about the Mark of Mastery Exam, the things that had to be done in order to reach the requirements, let alone what those requirements would be or what Sora and Riku had done to become Masters.

Kairi and Riku had told him and Namine about the Dream Drop; however, it wasn't much to go by, unfortunately. They were told about what happened to Sora, that he'd died because someone named Xemnas had shattered his heart and caused his mind to break because of the trauma inflicted upon him, but they were never told the whole story that started their adventures. Roxas frowned as he pulled on his shoes and a simple black t-shirt over a pair of comfortable pants before looking to his room – this was their lives now, but even if the castle had become a home to them in such a short time, it still was a great deal to take in everything, and so the two newest Keyblade Bearers still found themselves incredibly unadapted to their new environment and life styles.

"Okay, let's see what that psychopath has come up with this time..." Roxas said to himself as he considered the fact that he did think of Sora has a genuine friend and comrade, but he also knew that the boy was a Keyblade Master and he was also his and Namine's Master, which meant that Sora would take his priorities as such over mere friendship – and he would be rough on them for it. Sighing once more, Roxas left his room and went down to breakfast, where he knew they would be further informed of what would be happening.

 **{Downstairs: 6:58am}**

Roxas entered the room where they typically had breakfast and found the others sitting there with slightly tired expressions. Riku was a bit more lively than Namine or Kairi, who were sitting there in tank-tops and shorts with sneakers on, with their hair in braids. Kairi stretched a bit and took a sip of tea as Namine did the same, while he went to settled next to his girlfriend and took into account that the only person who seemed to be missing was Sora. Roxas looked around the room and saw the door where the kitchen was happened to be slightly ajar, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Where is Sora?" he asked. Riku smiled.

"Cooking." Namine and Roxas looked soundly surprised.

"I thought he was just running behind," Namine admitted as Riku shook his head and Kairi smirked ever-so-slightly.

"Nope, Sora is making breakfast for us." Roxas promptly slumped slightly in his chair while his mind tried to fathom what was happening.

"Um...can I ask _why_ in the hell he's cooking?" Kairi smiled as she looked at him.

"Well, he is a really good cook and knows how to make protein-based meals that can keep our energy up. He got a few tips from Aerith and Yuffie recently," she stated. Namine raised an eyebrow.

"Aerith? Yuffie? Who are they?" Riku hummed as he looked up from the documents he was looking through.

"Oh, those are friends of ours in Hollow Bastion...well...last we checked, Aerith lived in Hollow Bastion, she has a husband, so..." Roxas sighed as they heard a faint clink of dishes in the kitchen, before a familiar head of chestnut hair poked out from behind the door.

"So..." Riku eyed the boy.

"Did you blow something up?" sky-blue narrowed in annoyance.

"The fuck, Riku! At least I don't burn water!" Riku sighed.

"We _were_ ten, Sora," he stated.

"Your point is?" Riku rubbed his forehead.

"I can cook just fine now!" he said. Sora smirked.

"Yea, I know...I was actually just going to ask if you guys are hungry." They nodded.

"Um, yea, we are," Roxas told him as the sixteen-year-old pulled out a cart and Kairi stood before helping him put the things onto the table, which sufficiently stumped the two blondes, while Riku watched with a smirk upon his features, as they took in the fact that the meals looked remarkably good and smelled fantastic. Namine looked to Sora, who smiled as he sat down a pot of green tea in front of her, and she took it to fill up her cup with a smile upon her features. Roxas looked to him as he finished with the dishes, gave Kairi a kiss on the cheek, and sat down next to her.

"What the hell are you, exactly?" he questioned as Sora looked to him in questioning.

"What are you talking about?" Roxas cleared his throat.

"You cannot be human...you're a Keyblade Master and you're sixteen years old, you're a cook, you have a Princess for a girlfriend, you have saved the entire universe, what...three times already? And you're one of the nicest people I've ever met; plus, you're freakishly strong...what the hell?" Roxas stated as he pointed out several factors, and Sora flushed a bit and looked to the side in what was clear embarrassment.

"Well...I was kinda picked on as a kid, so I did a lot of things to occupy my time...my mom taught me how to cook...and she just tried to make sure I was a good person with the right kind of skillset to where I could do what I wished to when I got older...the Keyblade Master factor didn't event cross my mind until April this year, honestly." Namine put a few pieces of a type of meet, rice with a sunny-side egg atop it, and a small bowl of pale yellow-green soup with leaves and small junks of white floating in it on her plate, before she took a piece of the meat and tried a bite. The girl smiled and took another bite before looking to Roxas.

"I think you're an amazing cook! Your mom taught you really well!" she said happily.

"And remember, you and Namine are fairly good cooks yourselves." Roxas swallowed and looked at the meal in front of him.

"What kind of food is this, anyways?" Riku shifted the documents in his hands and grabbed what he wanted from the items laid out on the table.

"The kind of foods we grew up with on the Destiny Islands," he replied. Sora nodded as Kairi grabbed one of the small bowls of soup and some of the rice and meat.

"What about just eggs and bacon?" the three teenagers looked at Roxas for a moment.

"Well...we do make pancakes and things like that...but...well...we lived on an Island, so fish, fresh fruits, and seafood are more abundant than pigs...not that we don't have farms in the Eastern Island that raise livestock or things like that...but we're from the Northern Island, so it's a lot more tropical and modernized, unlike the Southern Island, which is more like a resort..." Roxas slumped in his seat as he got his things and sat them down in front of him before getting a cup of green tea.

"So is this why I hear about your disgustingly perfect health?" he questioned as Sora glanced to him.

"Well...I've never given it much thought..." Riku laughed.

"Never...no, you really haven't, because your health has always been excellent. When most of us have a fever, you're jumping around like a five-year-old on a sugar high, and when the rest of us have a stomach flu, you're just a little nauseated...it sucks..." Sora frowned as he took the fork he'd brought and broke the yolk of the egg before he mixed it up with the meat and grabbed a spoon for the soup.

"My mother is a nurse...so what do you expect?" Namine looked to Sora, who took a bite of the contents of the bowl in front of him, and kept her eyes on him momentarily.

"Your mom is a nurse?" she questioned. Sora nodded as he swallowed a mouthful of the soup.

"Yes, back on the Islands, she's one of the head nurses of the local hospital on the Western Island." Roxas frowned.

"So, what was it like? Growing up around hospitals?" he questioned while taking a bite of the meal in front of him. Namine had been right – Sora was a very good cook. The sky-blue-eyed sixteen-year-old was focused on chewing the rice and meat in his mouth right then, but he clearly was thinking on what was being asked.

"I don't really like doctors all that much, but I'm fine with hospitals...I'm a big reader, so I ended up reading a lot of medical textbooks growing up..." Riku laughed.

"Yep, he'd make a great doctor. Anyways, Sora, I have some documents from Master Yen Sid for you to read over. Oswald set them up, too," he stated. Sora nodded and took the offered documents before reading them.

"What's with the documents?" sky-blue glanced up.

"Well, as Keyblade Masters, we have to monitor influxes of Heartless and darkness in the Worlds, atop that, we have other major requirements on our part, including acting as the vanguard in case of war breaking out...hey, Riku? What's this about the Nobodies appearing in Hollow Bastion three days ago?" he inquired. Riku looked up.

"Squall and Yuffie reported that in only because it was Dancer Nobodies, but other than that, there's been nothing else, and the Dancer Nobodies are gone now..." Sora hummed a bit.

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Roxas. The two Keyblade Masters shook their heads.

"No, this is actually why I'm starting to boost training up, and we're going to start doing more Drive Form sessions..." Kairi bit her lip at the thought of what it meant.

Everyone remained silent for the time being, eating while Sora read through the reports, documents with what seemed like a series of numbers upon them and other details, as they remained quiet. Roxas and Namine both felt a bit tense at the prospect of what had Sora and Riku so concerned, and while they supposed they, too, could look at the documents that the two had been pouring over during that time frame, they knew it was probably for a Master's eyes only, and therefore did not question them on the matter. However, Roxas, Namine, and Kairi had an insistent nagging in their stomachs that told them something was very wrong with the fact that activity with the Heartless and Nobodies had gotten so low, and while most would rejoice, the fact that Sora and Riku were tense and viewing the information on the papers as if their lives depended upon it worried them to no end.

 **{Training Hall: 7:45am}**

Sora stood in front of the others, a paper in hand that seemed highly important. It was yellowed parchment, thick, and carrying a distinct scent of a strong ink with magic imbued into it. The designs on the front of the paper was a set of ornate, curving scroll-like tendrils that connected in black to a crescent moon at the left top corner and a star at the right top corner. Typically, such ornate stationery was never used when it came to Master Yen Sid; however, he knew that, if it was this or something highly urgent where no ornate paper would be used, something needed to be payed attention to. Looking at the others, Sora looked the letter over once more before sighing.

"Alright, look; Riku and I both have read this letter back and forth for quite a bit, picking it apart to be safe, and Master Yen Sid has some very important orders for all of us," he stated. Riku nodded a bit towards the three other's gaped expressions.

"We're not going to war, are we?" Riku looked at them again.

"Roxas, we've been in war for a long time now...even before any of us were brought into this kind of life..." the blonde looked stunned, but remained silent.

"Regardless, he's requested that I step up your training and have Riku assist me. Master Yen Sid wants us to expand upon combative techniques and toughen the three of you up...so I'll be initiating a system starting today, and we'll all have to abide by it..." Namine bit her lip.

"If we do that...what's going to be changing?" she inquired.

"I've not been very tough on the three of you, out of the sake that Roxas and yourself aren't used to this at all, and while Kairi is a bit more experienced, she's still learning basic spells. So, we'll have to rise early and go to bed a bit late, extend the training into the forests and beach...I'm going to be entering sparring sessions with you alongside Riku...I'm also going to be using more of the effects of my Drive Forms." The group, including the silver-haired Keyblade Master beside him, froze in surprise by the statement.

"More effects? What are you talking about?" questioned Riku. Sora glanced to him and sighed.

"Master Yen Sid is aware that I've been using Limit Form to do some base training with all of you, but because I have five Drive Forms, I need to start using them in controlled environments, and also let you guys face off with them when I use their Elemental bases..." Roxas tensed.

"Elemental bases?" he asked in faint shock. Sora huffed.

"Yes! Each drive form has an element that works with it, but we're off topic!" The four of them went still. Sky-blue eyes narrowed momentarily as he looked back at the letter.

"Please continue," Kairi said. Sora looked to her with a faint smile.

"Master Yen Sid also wants me to take you three to see the Good Fairies...they're going to fit you for some of the magic gear, similar to what myself and Riku have. They'll make quite a few outfits for you to wear during missions, whether they're ones that are just more durable or if they are legitimate combat attire is debatable, depending on what they throw at us, but that's something we're supposed to do in two weeks, so we have a lot of training to get underway..." Namine looked to the letter.

"What else?" Sora rolled his eyes and then looked to the letter once more.

"He also requests that I start summon and spell training with you...you're not ready for it, but we'll see what we can do," he said. Riku smirked.

"Says the guy who summons teacups." sky-blue narrowed.

"I'm frying you alive when I get to my third Drive Form, Riku Hirigaya," he said snappily. Riku smirked.

"Looking forward to a real challenge." Sora rolled his eyes and went to read the letter over once more.

"That's it; so, we're going to begin training, we're going to focus on seeing how you guys handle it when I use Limit's Elemental base...and then we'll be moving to its stasis, where we'll see how you fare with an attack backed up by magic," Sora explained.

"Alright..." the boy nodded, and put the letter away with the rest of the documents and got the group to line up.

"So, let's get to work!"

 **{…..}**

 _I can see every tear you've cried, like an ocean in your eyes. All the pain and the scars have left you cold..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: So, here's the first chapter of _**Kingdom Hearts: Revive**_. Now, this story is mostly showing some of Roxas and Namine learning some skills as Keyblade Wielders, and a few comical mishaps. I recommend you do not skip any of these stories, as there will be something in each of them that tie into the one after it and connect it to future events.

Here's an explanation for what Stasis in this story means:

Stasis: an activation of magical properties in a Form or Weapon that is wielded in a combative or defensive manner.

That is what Stasis means when it comes to Sora's Drive Forms.

Love all my readers, you guys are incredible!

Preview:

"Let's see how you handle this; ready?"

"Xehanort has gone quiet...something is coming..."

"What are you thinking about?"

Chapter 2: Limit


	2. Chapter 2: Limit

Chapter 2: Limit

 **{Training Hall: 8:00am}**

Sora watched the group summon their Keyblades, and he considered what to do next. They were going to begin training with his Drive Forms so they could work alongside it, if by chance Sora would have to enter one and combat the Heartless in one. Naturally, Riku had a bit of an upper hand, but not by much, seeing as his weakest Drive Form was Limit, and they'd only worked with it twice since returning to the castle. The Keyblades clinked in their grasps, and he smiled just a bit.

Taking into account the Keyblades he possessed that were more honed to the type of Element Limit Form was tuned to, he only could think of three: the Kingdom Key, Fairy Harp, and Jungle King. Frowning, Sora sighed, and settled upon Fairy Harp, knowing it was the closest he'd get without dual wielding both the Kingdom Key and Fairy Harp or Jungle King. Summoning the green and white Keyblade into his grasp, it made an almost flute-like sound as he swung it and prepared to pull out his Drive Form.

"What type of Keyblade is that?" asked Kairi as she looked it over. Sora smiled; there was time for a small lecture, he supposed.

"This is Fairy Harp, the Keyblade belonging to Neverland. I got it when I fought my shadow in Captain Hook's cabin when you were unconscious...and I was trying to find you and Riku." He had silently sworn that he would never mention more about Riku's involvement with the darkness than needed.

"Okay...so why are you using that?" Riku smirked a bit, deciding he would rather not step in on Sora trying to teach his students, except when he needed to in offering advice or perhaps extra information. Sky-blue eyes gave him a faintly grateful look, knowing he was trying to let him adapt to the fact that he now had not one, but technically three people looking towards him as their teacher and source of information. Taking in a deep breath, Sora looked back at the other three.

"Well, there are a lot of Keyblades out there in the worlds that are element based. Fairy Harp is an Air-Wind-based Keyblade, and Limit Form is an Air-based Drive...so I tend to stick with Keyblades that complement their stasis element," he explained.

"That's amazing! What about the Kingdom Keys?" Namine looked down to hers, as did Roxas.

"As far as we know, the Kingdom Keys are versatile...they don't have a singular basis in an element or ability. Which is good, seeing as you don't know what exact element you fare better with," Sora told her as he swung Fairy-Harp, and it made the familiar flute-like noise.

"That sounds very pretty, but what can air do in a fight?" Riku asked this question with sincerity, and all he could do was watch Sora smirk.

"Let's see how you handle this; ready?"

The four Keyblade Wielders stepped back, and Sora focused in on the Drive, his right eye turning a pale-blue as he felt the energy associated with the Drives gather around him. To most, it appeared to happen in mere seconds, and it did, but to him, it felt as if it took minutes. Sora felt his flesh cool ever so slightly and took in a steady breath as the magic slipped over his body, and just like that, he was in his Limit Sprite Drive Form. The red jumpsuit with the crown at the front, the black straps, white lining, his shoes yellow with black tongues, a blue belt at his hips, the jacket black with white at the sleeves, and his gloves, which had turned white, bore silver detailing and blue X-shapes across the top. Sora put his feet firmly on the ground and swung the Keyblade a bit and looked to the others.

Riku, Kairi, Roxas, and Namine eyed the boy's appearance; having seen this Form before, it was relatively unstressful; however, with the boy's mismatched blue eyes looking to them, it made them feel a knot form in their chests. Sky-blue and pale-blue stared directly at them as Sora smiled, assuring them that everything was okay, as Riku smiled, genuinely excited to be dealing with the Drive Form again, and at its full power. Sora looked at them once more, and with a smirk, a burst of wind shot away from him in a complete circle, taking the others by surprise as he used it to propel himself into the air and cast a blast of magic at them it was a simple shot of wind magic, but it did disrupt them faintly as they barely dodged it, and he landed in a crouch and looked to them with a smirk.

"What's wrong? I thought that you wanted to fight me?" he asked. Riku stared onward as Sora spun the Keyblade in his grasp, and Roxas took in a series of deep breaths.

"What the fuck?! That _stole my breath!_ " Sora gave Roxas a faint look.

"My Limit Drive is all Air and Wind based...any magic that has a basis in that element will be much more dangerous and will deal extra damage. This is my weakest Drive Form; we still have three more to deal with," he explained to them as they got to their feet.

"What in the hell are they?" Sora looked to them, backing up a bit as they braced themselves to attack.

"Come on, attack me!"

Sora shot another burst of wind from Aero outwards, and this time, Riku used shield and gave Roxas, Namine, and Kairi an advantage towards him. Sora and the group clashed, blows being dealt between the sharp gusts of wind, the sparks of metal, faint shouts, and the clatter of spells being deflected caught their attention as the group soon found themselves spent, and breathing in deeply as Sora moved back a bit and sat down in front of them, casting out cooling, gentle air spells to help them cool their bodies down before they became ill from overheating. The fight, from what they could tell by the clock on the wall, had been going for almost two hours already – one hour, fifty-three minutes, and forty-two seconds, if you wanted to go by the exact time – and they were truly spent. Sora was certain that the group wasn't used to it, but unlike the first time, they clashed almost perfectly with this weaker Form he had right then. However, Sora wasn't certain if they were prepared for the other two he used the most. Taking in a deep breath, he observed them, and Riku smiled as he looked him over.

"Damn, you're good with your Aero spells...now, what about your other ones?" he questioned. Sora laid back against the polished wood of the training hall's floor.

"I'm going to be introducing Wisdom Form again in about three or five days. Master Yen Sid stated that when I felt you were ready to handle one of the stronger ones I possess, I can bring you to his Tower, where you'll be meeting the three Good Fairies," he said.

"Neat, but...are we really doing that well against Limit Form?" sky-and-pale-blue looked to Roxas.

"Yes, you are. But we have to remember that you guys are a little more use to this Drive than the others...and I don't even know how you'll face the other three I have," he mentioned off-handedly. To that statement, though, Namine found herself slightly confused.

"Sora?" he hummed.

"What?" Namine frowned.

"That's only four Drive Forms. Limit, Wisdom, and the two others..." the boy glanced to her, as did the others in confusion.

"Your point?" the blonde girl looked him over.

"You told us in Twilight Town, after the fight with the Heartless, that you had _five_ Drive Forms," she clarified. The others recalled the statement and gave him a swift look over.

"Yea, I remember you telling us that!" Sora huffed, not wanting to discuss the topic coming at him.

"What about it? I just decided I didn't want to use it," he stated.

"So? We should try and adapt to all the ones you have because your style of fighting is different in these Forms." Sora nearly banged his head against the floor.

"I'm still learning control over it, okay? I've barely practiced with one of them, and that one I'm still working on how to pin down the power it uses..." Riku frowned, not liking the sensation he got off of the other.

Sora never showed distress in his facial features or body language, even when he was down-right terrified; however, talking about this Drive, the one he couldn't control, made him so anxious and put him under so much duress that he felt almost like a livewire of fear. Sometimes being Sora's Dream Eater was a good thing; it allowed him to sense when something was genuinely wrong with the other boy, and being his best friend and a practical older brother to the smaller teenager, it made Riku feel ever-so-slightly better, knowing that if he wasn't careful, and if Sora ever slipped, he wouldn't end up being hurt. Nonetheless, he promised to have a discussion with him about it after training ended.

"That's fine, so, back to training?" he asked. Sora jumped to his feet, and the others slowly did the same.

"Yea, show me what you guys got!" the four Keyblade Wielders picked up their Keyblades and charged, excited to continue advancing in their lives alongside the others.

 **{Mysterious Tower: 9:45am}**

Master Yen Sid sat at his desk, uncomfortable by the prospects he had seen from their allies who had been turning in reports since the Dream Drop incident in April. The aged Wizard had seen reports come in from both Owari and Burgess as well, but hadn't expected to see reports from Hollow Bastion, Radiant Garden, and even Daybreak Town. The only report he hadn't received was something from Traverse Town, which he assumed would be arriving shortly, as he did trust Cid, Huey, Dewey, and Louie to do their part in keeping tabs on the Darkness. He sighed and heard Oswald walk into the room and bring King Mickey in with him. His two former students, now Masters, stood before him, holding reports and allowing them to keep tabs upon the darkness influxes within the worlds they were charged with. Master Yen Sid looked to them, and King Mickey sat his report down upon his Master's desk, and Oswald swiftly followed.

"It is good to see you, Mickey," the wizard stated. The Mouse King smiled.

"As it is you, Master Yen Sid...is everything alright?" the wizard frowned, folding his hands before him.

"I just find the activity, or _lack thereof._...rather strange," he said calmly. The two Masters before him seemed to nod in agreement.

"Twilight Town has been rather quiet since Master Sora and Master Riku left with those two new Keyblade Wielders..." Oswald's statement momentarily hung in the air, as the Wizard considered this.

"And Disney Castle? What of its status?" inquired Master Yen Sid. King Mickey cleared his throat.

"Rather quiet; I've seen a few randomized stray Shadow Heartless, but they don't remain anywhere long before completely vanishing...Sora and Riku are training Roxas, Namine, and Kairi diligently; in fact, prior to me coming here, I saw them training with Sora's Limit Drive Form in the training hall." Master Yen Sid nodded.

"Good, Sora is going to have to get used to activating those Forms a bit more than normal," the wizard said cryptically. King Mickey and Oswald looked to them in concern.

"May I ask what you mean by that?" the Former Keyblade Master sighed heavily, distress evident upon his features.

"Xehanort has gone quiet...something is coming..." the two of them looked to one another and then to the Wizard again.

"Are you saying that..." Master Yen Sid nodded.

"I am afraid...the Dream Drop has become a tertiary catalyst for something we have boldly tried to hold back for quite some time," he clarified.

"The things we're trying to conceal might do more harm than good if we just up and tell them what's going to happen!" King Mickey smiled to Oswald.

"It's nowhere near as horrible as we make it sound...Master Yen Sid, Sora has a right to know the truth...I know you have the journal," he stated. The wizard looked down before he pulled out a picture frame from a drawer and placed it flat upon the desk, and with a touch of magic, it sprang to life.

A young man with ginger-chestnut hair and electric-baby-blue eyes looked around, holding a Keyblade in hand and moving in faint motions, the Keyblade glinting in the light. This boy stood there, looking around, and then he was joined by others, by familiar faces lost to time, and their smiles and laughter appeared as the Keyblade vanished, and the boy gave the girl next to him a bright, gentle smile as he grasped her hand, and the others bunched in around them in a manner that seemed as if they were preparing for an image to be created. It seemed to almost pause, and Master Yen Sid looked to the image.

"It's been over a century since this picture was created...and we've lost many keeping this secret until the time came..." Oswald put his ears down.

"Are you saying we..." the wizard looked down.

"I am afraid we cannot tell anyone who is not privy at current the truth of this matter...Mickey, just keep them safe, and Oswald? Would you check in on Himitsu and the others? I just wish to cover our bases," he explained. The two nodded.

"Yes, Master Yen Sid." he smiled.

"Good, now, I must speak with the Good Fairies, we have some Keyblade Wielders coming in a fort-night, and I do not wish to catch them off guard," Master Yen Sid said as he stood and started to leave the room, with King Mickey and Oswald walking behind him.

 **{Disney Castle: 12:45pm}**

Riku looked to Sora, who was rotating his right shoulder in an attempt to get the stiffness out after training had ended for the day. Sora had called it early, due to Roxas and Namine not being used to the hours that he typically worked on. Riku and Kairi were faring well enough that they could have kept going; however, Sora wanted to keep them together while working with the Drive Forms and adapting to the battle patterns. Riku rubbed a towel over his wet hair and went back to looking at where Sora was with a simple towel laid over his own damp hair from the shower he'd just gotten out of and frowned as the boy moved his upper body a bit, which caused his bones and joints to make a faint crackling noise. The silver-haired teen sighed and looked at the boy once more as he started to pull on a shirt and finish drying his hair.

"So, Limit Form seems stronger than last time," Riku stated. The chestnut-haired sixteen-year-old looked to his friend.

"Yea, it and two others get stronger by just using them...and then there are ones who also become stronger by using their element..." the silver-haired teen hummed in thought.

"Okay, Sora? Can I ask you a question?" he inquired. Sky-blue eyes looked to him.

"What?" Cyan eyes looked him over, and the boy backed up a bit.

"What is that Drive you're so scared of?" Sora glowered ever so slightly.

"I'd rather not talk about it. Riku, I'm not ready for people to know what that thing is...it's dangerous...if I can't control it, I won't ever bring it out...so don't worry..." Riku looked him over in questioning.

"Is it that bad?" he questioned. Sora looked down, knotting the towel up in his hands as his still-damp hair hung in his face.

"Yes...you...I'm afraid of it..." Riku looked to him in evident worry.

"Why are you so afraid of one thing? You can manage the other Drives no problem...right?" he asked him. Sky-blue met cyan eyes, and the older boy felt his eyes grow wide.

"No...one of them is a bit too strong for me...I need to practice with it more. There's that one...and...that other one..." Riku looked down momentarily.

"What's stopping you from using it?" sky-blue eyes looked shiftily around.

"I'm scared of...what Kairi and all of you will think of me when...you see _what it does to me..."_

"Then we'll wait until you're ready, okay?" the boy glanced up at him with teary eyes.

"Thanks...Riku..."

 **{Disney Castle: 10:45pm}**

Sora took in a deep breath as Kairi snuggled up to him. The girl had come into his room just a few moments ago and had asked to stay with him for the night – agreeing to it, the girl was now laid up against him, smiling ever so slightly. Sky-colored eyes looked to aquamarine ones, only to be given a soft kiss before he reached up to brush his fingers through her hair and gently pull her closer before she broke away from him and frowned. Kairi knew Sora was tired, but she also knew that he wasn't talking about something that was bothering him.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"How I'm going to train them properly..." Kairi raised an eyebrow.

"Roxas and Namine are coming along fine, so don't worry about it," she told him.

"Kairi, I never had formal training. I'm teaching them what I feel they need to know, but how can I make that judgement call when I've never been given that before I went headlong into battles?" the red-haired girl frowned once again and crawled atop him to stare down at the boy, who felt himself flush just a bit at the rather awkward position.

"Sora, you're an amazing teacher, and I know you're doing this the right way. Roxas and Namine are learning at a really fast rate! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were ready to go out into the field soon," Kairi said to him with a smile. Sora sighed a bit as he struggled with the strange sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Kairi? Can I ask you something?" the girl leaned down to where she could place her head upon his chest and nodded slowly.

"What is it?"

"Do you think it's strange that Xehanort and the Organization haven't done anything in months?" he asked.

"Well, I guess so...but, honestly? I think we should be grateful that they haven't shown up yet..." he nodded a bit.

"Roxas and Namine wouldn't do well against the Organization...those two don't know how dangerous being a Keyblade Wielder is yet...but when they do...it'll change them...like it did you and Riku..." he muttered before going quiet.

"Like it did to you?" sky-blue met aquamarine.

"Kairi..." she looked down.

"You really did change over the course of that first adventure. When we were kids, you were quiet, but sweet and shy, a really good person, and compassionate...you wouldn't hurt anyone...and then..." Sora sat up.

"I know that I was different..." Kairi shook her head.

"When you cast the Keyblade aside and wrenched open the door to the darkness, you reached inside and grabbed Riku and the King out with your bare hands, and you were on top of Riku, screaming at him, swearing, threatening him...I remember...I was there, and it scared me to see so much difference between the boy I knew on the Islands and the boy who was pinning one of my friends down, screaming at him..." Sora reached out and caressed her cheek.

"Kairi, we've talked about this...change has to happen for people to survive...I had to grow out of being so quiet in order to live through those battles in order to bring you and Riku back! Even then I loved you, but I couldn't tell you because I wasn't going to be with you...I just wanted the two of you and our families and friends safe..." he said as he placed a kiss upon her cheek.

"I know...it'll be okay..." Kairi wrapped her arms around him, holding him close.

"However, we have to be prepared...I'm going to push the Wisdom Form training up. For the next three days, we'll work with Limit Form and a few other things, and from there, we'll go to Wisdom Form," he told her as Kairi snuggled closer.

"Okay...let's get some sleep, though...okay?" he smiled.

"Yea..."

 **{…..}**

 _I can see all the fears you face, through a storm that never goes away. Don't believe all the lies that you've been told..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Okay, chapter 2 is complete! Just a heads up, this story isn't pure comedy like the story that will follow it – it has humor, but it also stands to be considered very important, due to the training aspects of it, and the fact that Roxas and Namine, as well as Kairi and Riku, are going to be put through the ringer because of Sora's Drive Forms, and how fast they're having to go with the training. Now, in the next chapter, we get a little mayhem and some use of spell-work with the group. I'll list the spells that were taught at the end of the chapter, as well as the Drive Forms that are used in each chapter, summons when they're used, and Keyblades that were used will be listed in a trivia page at the end of the story.

 **Drive Form: Limit Form –** the weakest of Sora's Drive Forms, it is Air/Wind Element-based, and works best with Keyblades that are based around the element. Sora's abilities are strengthened from the events of his first adventure, and he received this Drive Form from Axel in Castle Oblivion – though he states he only found it – and appears almost identical to his appearance through the events of Kingdom Hearts I.

 **Spells: Aero –** a Wind/Air Spell that allows the user to surround themselves in a funnel of moving winds to protect them. It can be cast out to use as an attack.

Let me know what you think!

Preview:

"Okay, that worked perfectly!"

"Sora! Dont laugh at me!"

"Earplugs?"

Chapter 3: Brooms


	3. Chapter 3: Brooms

Chapter 3: Brooms

 **{September 8th 2013, Disney Castle: 6:52am}**

Roxas was running down the hallways of the Disney Castle as fast as he could so as to not arrive late to training – he had been late on their third day of training and Sora had made him dodge fire-spells for an hour straight as punishment, and he had no desire to relive that again. The blonde teenager raced by people and objects as swiftly as he could until he heard a scuffling noise and a wet sloshing as he turned a corner and slid on the soles of his shoes down a corridor that had been freshly mopped. It caused him to practically skate across the white-gray marble like it was ice until he was at the end of it.

"Okay, that worked perfectly!" he said to himself as he started to move, and then he heard a thunderous bristling noise and turned around to see a hoard of brooms and mops coming for him.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Roxas continued to race down the corridors, now not concerned with being late to training, but ending up in an early grave.

Roxas had been warned during his and Namine's first week at the castle that stepping upon a freshly mopped floor would result in the brooms and mops seeking vengeance; however, he hadn't seen much, if any proof of that until right this moment when he was being chased through the hallways, reminding him greatly of a game where he had to deal with a group of allies going through a dungeon and having to avoid something called a Waterwraith. Roxas turned a corner and slammed into someone, and looked up into cyan colored eyes – instantly he knew it was Riku, if not only for the fact that he was taller than him, and if it had been Sora, he would have bumped heads with him because of their near-identical height – taking in a deep breath, Roxas jumped behind Riku, who raised an eyebrow before he heard the familiar thunder-like bristle noise.

"Oh, you have _got to be joking!_ " Riku looked to Roxas, who gave him a sheepish smile.

"I was running late, and..." Riku turned on his heels and started running as soon as he saw the shadow of a broom appear.

"I suggest you explain later!" he said as he started down the hall, and Roxas took off to catch up.

"And do what?"

"KEEP _RUNNING!_ "

The two Keyblade Wielders raced together through the corridors, down a secret passage, several flights of stairs, and finally they were running down the hallway until they flew into a room and slammed thick, heavy doors behind him. At long last, they were safe; however, Roxas turned and was face-to-face with a certain chestnut-haired Keyblade Master, who gave him a once over before sighing in defeat as he heard the thunderous noise of cleaning supplies just outside the doors. The chestnut-haired sixteen-year-old drew his Keyblade and looked at the others in the room. Without question, Sora knew that there would be only two options available to the five of them: run, or freeze the brooms.

"You may want to draw your Keyblades – we're going to be learning some spells on the fly today," he said.

"What?!" Sora looked to the group and raised an eyebrow.

"I said – _draw your damn Keyblades!_ Unless, of course, you want to become a sacrifice to the Brooms of Master Yen Sid," Sora told them.

The group instantly drew their Keyblades, preparing for the sudden change of lesson plans the broom invasion had brought on. Sora raised his Keyblade and with the word Blizzard, he froze several of the brooms in place before moving on to the next batch of them. Roxas looked at the brooms in faint panic as Namine held up her own Keyblade and shot a small blizzard spell at one broom that drew close, while Kairi used a stronger one. The blonde boy glanced at his Keyblade once more before moving it in the motions that he believed he had seen Sora and Kairi use before he pointed the Keyblade at one of the brooms. In mere seconds, as everyone else was using Blizzard – or Stop, in Riku's case – a sudden sharp pull had dragged the broom to Roxas, who turned on his heels to run and ended up with a broom stuck to his back. The blonde boy jumped, hopped, and screamed as he did his best to unglue himself from the frantically waving broom attached to his back; however, it was as this fiasco was taking place that Riku finished off the last broom, and they turned their attention to him.

"What in the worlds are you doing, Roxas?" asked Namine.

"I don't know what happened!" the boy jumped again, trying in vain to get his arms back far enough to get the broom off.

"That's a...funny dance there, Rox..." Ocean-blue eyes looked to sky-blue ones, and he narrowed them.

"Sora! Don't laugh at me!" the boy whined as he felt the broom continue to struggle.

"I think that's the most interesting way to catch one of those brooms yet," Sora said as he looked his student over.

"Just get it off! I don't like these things attached to me!" the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master laughed ever so slightly

"Okay, just hold still," he stated.

It took Sora only a few seconds to de-spell the broom, as it frantically took off past its frozen brethren and into the hallway, where it continued to scurry off. Roxas sighed in relief as he looked at the Keyblade in his hands, and then to Sora, who frowned as he held out his hand for the weapon and slowly took it from Roxas, who had a concerned look upon his face as the chestnut-haired Master looked it over before sighing as he handed it back and started to look at the frozen brooms and mops.

"Well, that didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but we didn't do too bad..." Roxas sighed.

"Yea, except for me, who couldn't even grasp a spell as simplistic as Blizzard..." Sora frowned, and looked the boy over.

"Roxas? What's your sign?" the blonde eyed him.

"My what?" he asked.

"Your celestial sign? You know...your zodiac?" the boy perked up.

"Oh...sorry...I'm a Gemini..." Sora hummed momentarily as he thought.

"I'm an air sign, Aquarius, but...Kairi is a Pisces, Riku is a Scorpio, and what about you, Namine?" he asked. The blonde girl smiled.

"I'm a Leo." he nodded.

"I honestly figured as much..." he said. Roxas rose an eyebrow.

"Why?" Riku laughed a bit.

"What's so funny, Riku?" Namine questioned.

"I'll let Sora explain." Both blondes turned their attention back to Sora, who smiled.

"Here's the thing: a zodiac sign will actually assist in me knowing what kind of element based spell to teach you first. By knowing you are a Leo and a Gemini, I can pinpoint which spells will be easier for you to pick up," Sora explained this, and the two nodded.

"Why does it help?" Clear blue eyes looked at Roxas.

"Because your sign is attributed to an element. Namine might be more prone to using fire spells because she's a fire-sign, and Roxas might be a natural with air or wind spells because he's an air sign like myself. However, there are instances where personality changes the results of the element the person is most connected to," the Keyblade Master further divulged this, and the two eyed him and then one another.

"But, Namine isn't really a fire person..." the fair-haired girl sighed.

"He's right...I'm not really okay with a fire spell..." the boy looked Namine over, and soon was circling her faintly, trying to pinpoint which would be best for her.

"You have a point...and you did pretty well with the blizzard spell...I think you're a lot like Kairi – you're hot-headed with a cold touch," he said in half-thought.

"What do you mean I'm hot-headed?" Sora flinched, and Riku took a few steps back.

"Kairi, I didn't mean it like that – you just get really foul-tempered sometimes," he tried to explain, but the girl only glared.

"I'm not hot-headed! And I don't have a cold touch, either!" she stated a bit sharply as Sora winced.

"Look, it's not like that! Kai...it was just that you do have some harsh moments, and in those moments you tend to...why are you looking at me like that?"

Kairi didn't say a word, she just summoned her Keyblade and moved towards the boy, who decided to take the opportunity to leave the training hall and sort this out with his girlfriend in private – if he could. Sora took to running as Kairi chased him down the hallway, and Riku groaned in defeat as he realized this was going to be a long day and an even longer night while Roxas tilted his head in questioning and Namine folded her arms across her chest with a sigh. Sora was in for a long twenty-four hours, but between Kairi's sudden anger and Sora's ability to sweet-talk people, Riku believed that they could have it sorted out by tonight.

"Must be that time of the month," Namine said as Roxas shifted away from her.

"I wouldn't worry too much..." Roxas looked to Riku.

"Why?" the silver-haired Keyblade Master shrugged.

"They're perfect for one another...and they're both hot-tempered with a cold touch, trust me. Sora and Kairi will have it sorted out by tonight."

 **{Disney Castle: 9:00pm...}**

They would have it sorted out by nightfall – Riku had never been so wrong in all his life. Between the death threats that continued on into dinner and well past it, Kairi had not let up on Sora, who – though he had apologized – still couldn't seem to remove himself from the girl's warpath. It was now time for them to settle in, and they were prepared for bed with their doors shut and their night clothes on already when a strange scuttling noise was heard from the hallway. Riku had been relaxing with a book by the fireplace when he heard it and looked to his door before opening it in curiosity – at the same time Riku had been reading, Namine had just finished with her shower, gotten dressed, dried her hair, and was now brushing it out before preparing for bed; that had stopped when the strange scraping sound caught her attention as well.

Lastly was Roxas, who was busy writing about the strange events of the day in a journal so to keep up with the events he was dealing with now – if all this mess ever ended and their lives returned to normal, he'd like to have something interesting to recant to his children, and possibly later on, his grandchildren – however, his concentration was broken when the same noise that had attracted the attention of Namine and Riku also took hold of his, and he stood to open his door to the strangest of sights.

"What in the... _Sora?_ " the chestnut-haired teenager struggled.

"Let me the fuck go! You damn brooms! I'll use you for firewood after I get done with using you for target practice!"

"Sora?" Riku asked as he watched the boy.

Sora was wrapped up in a thick net and was being dragged behind a series of brooms that merely continued to drag him towards a white door with pink accents on it as if the array of death threats and swear words didn't even exist. It was unbeknownst to the others at the current time, but Sora had been chased up to an archway by both Kairi earlier, and a few errant mops that seemed to have a bone to pick with him as well, and had been settled there mulling things over when he heard the bristling noises and looked down to find the brooms building a ladder with themselves to reach him, while a few who were climbing the already in place ones were carrying a net – the one he was now in – to do heaven knew what.

It took a matter of seconds and Sora was in a net, being dragged away, down the hallway, up the staircase, and through another hall to where he was now. The brooms finally stopped and knocked upon the door, to where Kairi stood in her night clothes before sighing as she looked down at him as he turned his eyes on her through the net before he was thrown in, and the broom slammed the door shut before knocking imaginary dust off its hands as it went back down the hallway without a care in the world. As the brooms left, Riku looked to Roxas and Namine.

"Did you just see..." the two nodded.

"Yep..."

"Me, too..." the silver-haired Keyblade Master nodded.

"Okay, just making sure." There was a momentary pause.

"Um..." Roxas started as Riku held up a small foam piece.

"Earplugs?" he offered. The two raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" Riku walked over to a table near the door and grabbed a pack of earplugs off it before holding it out to them.

"You'll need it...trust me on this..." he stated. The two blondes grabbed them, and then Riku looked to the door just a bit down from his.

"Do you think Sora will be okay?" Riku nodded to Namine's question.

"I'm sure he'll be fine. Kairi might torture him a bit in some form or fashion, but she won't hurt him, and they'll be fine by tomorrow," he mentioned. Roxas gave him a bland expression.

"Didn't you say something along the same lines earlier today? Around nine-ish?" he received a blatant look.

"Your point?" Riku asked.

"We see how well that worked out, didn't we?" the silver-haired teen looked him over.

"The student is slowly becoming the teacher..." Roxas frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"You've been around Sora too long...you're starting to troll people on his level of insane."

"I'm going to bed now...goodnight..." With that, Namine shut her door.

"And that's my cue to go back to my book..." Roxas gaped momentarily as the two left him there.

"These people...are going to put me in a straightjacket by the time I'm thirty..." With that, he went back into his room, shut the door, and walked back to his desk to grab a memo pad, where he decided to make himself a personal note:

 _Beware of the BROOMS!_

Roxas hoped he never forgot that note either, or he might find himself chased up an archway, tied up in a net, and dragged across the castle to an unknown destination, for one never knows – especially with the things in the castle they lived in.

 **{Disney Castle: 6:20am}**

Sora was settled in a chair next to Kairi, who seemed rather calm compared to yesterday. The boy appeared no worse for wear, and the red-haired girl was even holding his hand and occasionally giving him kisses on his cheek. Riku gave Roxas a knowing look, and the blonde gave the boy a glare almost as lethal as his master's, while Namine did some light reading on ice-based spells. Kairi was chatting calmly with Sora now, who was agreeing while the boy continued to speak with her as well, and Roxas was frowning while he ate a simple breakfast of oatmeal with cinnamon and brown sugar. It was a relatively quiet morning, but it set him on edge, because if this castle was quiet, things were about to get loud, psychotic, and possibly dangerous.

"How did you sleep? Kairi? Sora?" asked Namine.

"Fine, thanks. What about you?" the girl nodded.

"Great, I should probably use earplugs more often," she stated.

"Earplugs, huh?" Sky-blue eyes gave a knowing look to Riku, who took a sip of his tea while reviewing a few notes given to him that morning by an uncharacteristically hyper Chip, who dropped them off and took to flying down the corridor before he could say a word.

"So...what's training going to entail now?" asked Roxas.

"Well, I'm going to give you guys a few training tips on spells, and then in a day or two, we'll begin training with Wisdom Form." the blonde dropped his spoon.

"That's the one where you glide across the ground, shoot bullets made out of magic from your Keyblade, and move like a freaking bullet in blue, right?" Sora smiled.

"Yep, so, get plenty of rest, and prepare for the most grueling, pain-inducing days you've ever experienced!" he said in a happy tone.

 _"If I didn't know better...I'd say he had dissociative identity disorder.."_

 **{…..}**

 _I'll be right here now, to hold you when the sky falls down. I will always..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: So, here we are. This one was pretty short – only 9 pages – but we'll be making up for it soon. Like I said, this story is a precursor to a much more extensive and comical adventure that you will see the origins of soon enough.

I hope you guys enjoyed it! And let me know what you think!

Preview:

"What are you?"

"Well...that failed.."

"There is a book missing..."

Chapter 4: Spell Mishaps


	4. Chapter 4: Spell Mishaps

Chapter 4: Spell Mishaps

 **{Disney Castle: September 10th 2013: 5:45am}**

It was early, far too early, and yet, Roxas felt something tugging at his senses. It could have possibly been Sora coming to get him in the early morning for a rude – and begrudgingly hated – awakening for more training. Roxas would be the first to tell you that he despised Sora's training regimen for several reasons: it was grueling, stressful, exhausting, bone-breaking, blister-inducing, and ill-boding lessons that made his body ache for hours, his eyes nearly cross to the point that he couldn't bear to stay awake any longer, and his bones feel as if they'd splintered; however, Roxas was seeing something different in himself, Namine, and Kairi. Sora was a demon when it came to teaching - he knew what he was doing – and while neither Roxas nor Namine knew exactly why Sora was so tough on them, they suspected it was done within good reason.

However, Roxas desired sleep, not lessons in Keyblade wielding, but he was being denied it due to a slight ticklish sensation he felt upon the tip of his nose followed by the heavy scent of fire and coal. The blonde Keyblade Wielder batted at his nose slightly, and as soon as the scent and sensation were gone, he fell back asleep until at long last his alarm clock went off. Roxas sat up out of bed, hair askew, eyes half-lidded, and skin a bit pale as he got up.

"What was that? I must be dreaming half awake..." he said to himself as he walked towards the bathroom to get ready for the day.

As he got himself cleaned up and dressed, Roxas thought about the recent training they had been undergoing. Sora taught them well when it came to spells and maneuver work, sparring, and further training, but the one thing that terrified him and made him dread training was the upcoming session: _Wisdom Form_. Roxas sighed as he recalled the first time he had ever seen Sora's Wisdom Drive Form in action. It was dangerous, graceful, quick, accurate, quiet, and beautiful – something that made Sora look as if he was almost flying with gleams and faint wind wisps of royal blue behind him. The blonde could admit it, the Keyblade Master was someone he both admired and feared to a great degree; however, there was something else he considered when he thought of Sora Seiren: friendship.

Roxas was one of the lucky few in all the worlds to say he was a good friend of Master Sora Seiren, savior of the worlds, defeater of Darkness, Bearer of the Silver Kingdom Key, the chosen one who was selected out of many to hold the honor of putting a stop to the most vile, wicked, black-hearted man in anyone's memory. The blonde looked down as he put down his toothbrush to think for a moment as he considered all of the titles Sora bore. What had the boy gone through to gain each of those so highly esteemed titles? What had he given up to acquire the accreditation of the higher ranking persons around him? And what wounds did he bear to be given the title of Keyblade Master? Those thoughts ran through his head as he finished with brushing his teeth and got dressed.

 _"Sora and Riku are the only Keyblade Masters I've ever met besides King Mickey and Master Yen Sid. Are there more of them? Were there more of them? What happened? And how come no one's said anything? Why? Is there something so bad that..."_

Roxas's internal musings were cut off as a small black object appeared in the corner of his eyes, and he turned to see it fumble its way into the fireplace. Standing from his seat at the edge of his bed, the blonde headed to the mantel and crouched to where he could look at the soot that was present in the grate. Sighing, he took one of the metal pokers and went to jab the burnt-down logs with it when he received a shock he'd not quite expected: the soot moved. Roxas dropped the poker and scuttled backwards as he looked at the same spot again and realized he hadn't been imagining things and saw the soot once more move until a set of beady, large white and black eyes poked up from the soot and a tiny creature came scrambling about for a random piece of wood that was only partly intact still.

"What are you?" he asked as he looked at it, only for it to squeak and grab the chunk of wood before racing back towards the fireplace.

"Whoa, hold on, little guy..." the creature, tiny as it was and made of soot, turned to look at him.

"Where did you _come from?_ " it looked back to the fireplace as if to answer him.

 _"It came from the fireplace? Really? Then what is it? A soot fairy?"_ Roxas made a frown at that as the soot-creature ambled it's way over to him, and a few others did the same, but stumbled over one another.

"Well...that failed.." he muttered, as more and more of them started to emerge and he began to panic.

"There's...wait...HOW MANY OF YOU ARE THERE?!" the door creaked open, and Roxas jumped as Sora stood there with his arms crossed over his chest.

"One, but I figured that was enough, considering how often you bitch about how horrible a single one of me is," he said. Roxas jumped to his feet, ran towards the other boy, and dragged him over to the fireplace.

"There are little _soot-creature-things_ in the fireplace!" the blonde pointed at the area, and Sora crouched down enough to spot a single little pair of eyes looking up at him from the fireplace.

"What? I've never seen one of those before," he told the other.

"Really? Because there's a whole colony in that thing..." Sora smiled.

"What's the matter, Rox? Scared of a house keeper?" the chestnut-haired teenager questioned.

"NO! I'M NOT AFRAID OF THE LITTLE SOOT PUFF-BALL CREATURE-THINGS THAT EAT BURNT WOOD AND SCAMPER AROUND LIKE..." Sora held a hand up to stop him.

"Would you calm down? They're harmless," Sora told him.

"B-But...there was one on my nose earlier this morning when I was still asleep, and..." the other gave him a pointed look.

"Roxas, calm down and get downstairs," he said.

"But the...soot puff-ball-things..." the blonde pointed to the fireplace, and Sora frowned.

"Why don't you take one of them with you? Maybe Riku or one of the girls has seen one before in the castle," Sora suggested as he glanced to a random mason jar that had been left on the dresser.

"Okay..."

Roxas grabbed the jar – something that had been left with a note that said: for annoying blue lights – and popped it open before he crouched down and grabbed one of the little soot creatures that rested just at the edge of the fireplace nibbling on a bit of burnt wood. Sora nodded, smiling as he looked at it, and Roxas stood to head out of the room towards breakfast, where he knew the small black puff-ball of soot in the jar would not only raise a few eyebrows but more than likely be gushed over by Kairi and Namine because of the fact that the tiny creature was oddly cute. Roxas, however, just wanted to know what it was, and why it was in his fireplace.

 **{Dinning Room: 7:00am}**

"Roxas? What's in that jar?" asked Kairi as she looked at it.

"I found one of these little buggars in my fireplace this morning – I don't know what they are, but there's a whole colony in there." Sora sat back in his chair, looking at the jar.

"Have any of you guys seen one of these around?" Kairi shook her head.

"Nope, I've never seen one before," she stated as the boy next to her glanced to Namine and Riku.

"Me neither, I don't know what it is." Namine shook her head as well after Riku had answered.

"I haven't, but I bet the library will have a book on them," she said as she got up.

"Where are you going?" the blonde-haired girl looked to Roxas.

"I'm going to search for an answer about the little friend you've brought with you," Namine stated as she left the room.

"Will she be back soon?" Sora laughed a bit.

"I wouldn't worry too much. Namine is resourceful, and the brooms seem to like her," he mentioned as Roxas shivered in a visible bristle.

"Can we never talk about walking cleaning equipment again? After I retire from being a Keyblade Wielder...I'm moving to a relatively _neutral or non-life-threatening environment..._ " Sora glanced up from his book that he'd brought with him.

"Why not look at the Constellation Map in the astronomy tower? There's a grand list of most of the worlds there," he said.

"A list?" Riku and Kairi momentarily glanced Sora over as he mentioned the map.

"Well, the Constellation Map shows all the worlds that still exist. There's supposedly a map somewhere that details the worlds that were once part of another, larger world – I guess you could call it a Kingdom of sorts," Sora told Roxas this, and the blonde raised an eyebrow.

"But, why would they split up?" Riku sighed.

"Because the main world, the one at the center, probably died off. If there was a Kingdom made up of multiple worlds at some point...then it only stands to reason that if the center connecting realm vanished, then they would split up and become their own worlds," he explained.

"That's sad..." Kairi looked down at her plate in thought.

"Yea, considering what we've seen of the worlds when they become fragments..." Sora stated in half-thought.

"You've seen fragments of other worlds before?" sky-colored-eyes met ocean ones and the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master nodded.

"When I was thirteen, I started off on an adventure after our island was attacked by the darkness...I was chosen by the Silver Kingdom Key and became the one selected by the powers of the worlds, and I fought my way through several worlds alongside Donald and Goofy...when we got to the place that Ansem, Seeker of Darkness – the one responsible for this mess starting – was waiting...there were pieces of the worlds that he'd destroyed floating about like pieces of stained glass in water...it was horrible..." Roxas looked down.

"You know...we were never told about you and how all of this started for the three of you," Roxas stated.

"Honestly, I don't know if you or Namine would want to know about this..." the blonde looked to his Master.

"I'd rather find out something about it," he said.

"Why? It's not really that important..."

"I just want to know how you became a Keyblade Wielder and..."

"Roxas, drop the subject – now..." Sora's tone became cold, and his eyes transcended into a cold blue that made him nearly flinch in fear.

"But I just..."

Roxas was going to say something, but Riku shook his head, and he fell silent, hoping that Namine could tell him what those soot-creatures were, considering that his Master wasn't going to tell him anything more than he just had about how he, Riku, and Kairi had become Keyblade Wielders – this was going to be a long day.

 **{Two Hours Later: Court Yard}**

"Stupid Sora, keeping a bunch of secrets over nothing..." he muttered as he took a break from training.

Roxas had obligated to take a break and read a book that he had borrowed from Sora for reference to spell-work and summons – he needed quite a bit of practice with that – and had sat down under a tree to read and mull over his thoughts. Sora was going easy on them today, which meant that the Wisdom Form training wasn't far off; however, Roxas had other thoughts playing around in his head that involved the beginning of the events that lead Sora, Riku, and Kairi to where they were today. Back in Twilight Town, Sora had defended their reason for killing Heartless by briefly outlining the fact that he himself had once turned into a Heartless, and yet, there was something wrong with the information. It was choppy, telling them only the facts that he had become one because he'd sacrificed his own life for Kairi's, become a Heartless, and been brought back by Kairi because of her love for him.

It was far too short, _too simplified_ , and beyond and above too easy. There was more involved, and he needed to know what Sora was keeping quiet. The blonde frowned and realized that there were many things that the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master was keeping quiet. He was not obvious about his history with Organization Thirteen, and while they had been given a decent chunk of details concerning the Dream Drop event, even that felt halved. He groaned and snapped the book shut before banging it against his head in pure frustration over the situation.

"What the fuck is so bad about the beginning? Did something devastating happen? Did someone die? Why won't they fucking tell us! Don't we have a right to know?" he said aloud.

"Oh, Roxas..." the blonde looked to see Donald standing beside him.

"Donald? What are you doing here?" the Court Magician raised an eyebrow.

"Sora told me to come and get you – training is restarting," he was told.

"What?! How long have I been out here?" he looked at the clock in the courtyard and realized he had been out in the castle's courtyard for almost a full hour now.

"Come on, I'll walk back with you," Donald said as Roxas nodded, grabbed the book, and followed after him.

"Why didn't Sora come and get me himself?" his question may have seemed odd, but he was highly irritated by his Master, and he didn't feel up to putting up with any excuses.

"He's helping Kairi and Namine with their spell-work and Riku is supervising – they asked me to come get you so you could get back to work on the spell-craft," Donald explained as they continued to walk.

"Damn that spikey-haired brat..." suddenly, a sharp pain spread through his head, and he placed a hand to the sore spot and turned to look at Donald, who was holding his staff in a position that was poised almost completely over Roxas's head.

"What _the hell_ was that for?!" Roxas exclaimed.

"Watch what you say about your Master!" the blonde narrowed his eyes.

"He doesn't own me," he said.

"No, but he deserves _your respect!_ " Roxas looked at the duck with a glare.

"Why the fuck should I respect someone who won't even tell me about how he became a Keyblade Bearer?! I just got dragged into this fucking mess without any real explanation, and you all just expect me to do what? Follow like an obedient dog? _Fuck no!"_ Donald eyed him slightly.

"You don't want to know what sort of hellish things Sora's had to go through to become who he is now..." the blonde looked down.

"I just want to know what happened to him to start all this...I barely know _anything_ about the person trying to teach me..." Donald sighed.

"Have you tried to ask him about it?" he looked to him.

"Yea, and he basically told me to shut up and stop asking..." the Court Magician looked down in thought.

"Try talking to Riku about it – he knows the whole story, thanks to Jiminy Cricket," Donald told him.

"Jiminy Cricket?" the Court Magician nodded.

"Yes, he's the royal chronicler – he recounted all of Sora's adventures, and that includes the encounter with you and your friends in Twilight Town," he said.

"Couldn't I just talk to him?" Donald frowned.

"I suppose, but remember – if you find out these facts, you have to keep things quiet, and talk to Sora about it when he doesn't feel threatened..." Roxas frowned.

"Why would Sora feel threatened? He's a Keyblade Master! That makes no sense!" he stated.

"Just trust me – don't make him feel like he has to defend himself."

Roxas took that to heart.

 **{September 14th 2013, 7:45pm}**

The Keyblade Wielders were heading back towards their wing for the evening to get themselves cleaned up and in bed after a long day of training and a few interesting discoveries. The small creatures in the fireplaces were known as _soot sprites_ , a type of cleaning or household spirit that had been hired by King Mickey to help maintain the fireplaces within the castle. The little creatures, since their discovery, had been constantly engaging with both Sora and Roxas since they'd learned things about the little critters. Soot sprites loved star-shaped candies and conversation – therefore, the group of five had now taken to keep a large jar of star candy to throw into the fireplace when they got up in the morning, and again when they returned to get ready for sleep. The soot sprites were taken care of with the charred pieces of wood, but since they'd been given candy, they seemed twice as chipper and chattery.

However, with the discovery of the soot sprites came a few more interesting details that they weren't expecting to ever see. Roxas found that his soot sprites would dance as soon as they got their candy, and tended to gather around his feet and circle him a few times while holding hands before scattering to eat their dinner.

Namine had reported that one of her soot sprites that finally came crawling out of the grate one evening liked to sit up on the mantel and watch her paint or draw in the evenings, Kairi's liked to sit on her desk and watch her write or doodle as well, and sometimes it would sit at the window near her bed and stand guard overnight, Riku had made a few mentionings of finding soot sprites in the morning carrying his shoes to the bed out of the closet for him, or even once, they had brought in a book he'd left downstairs. Lastly was Sora, who had by far had the oddest case of soot sprites; because while Roxas's danced, Namine's liked art, Kairi's was a watch sprite, and Riku's were trustworthy aids, Sora's read books.

He had walked into his room one late afternoon and found a series of soot sprites lined up on the floor, while another sat upon his desk with a book open, chatting in a squeaky voice for quite some time before it flipped a page. Needless to say, the group had received a shock when Sora had screamed for Riku and the others had come running, slightly panicked as he stepped out of his room and pointed inside to show them exactly what he had been seeing and ask if he had genuinely saw it. With their confirmation, he nodded, shut the door, and the soot sprites cheered as he sighed.

This had been their lives for the last five days, and now they were experiencing a similar situation; however, when the soot sprites cheered as Sora opened his door, he froze as the others paused, noticing that he seemed slightly confused before he tensed and then sighed again as Riku moved a bit closer to him in order to find out what was happening. The soot sprites sat upon the floor and desk as usual, reading their evening chapter of a book that Sora had agreed to lend them so long as they didn't damage it, and then he glanced to Sora, who seemed surprisingly jaded as he looked around the room.

"Sora? What's wrong?"

"There is a book missing..." Riku raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know that? I mean, the soot sprites..." Sora shook his head.

"I left that book on the desk for their designated reader – that is not the book that's missing," he stated.

"Wait a second, how do you even know a book is missing?" sky-blue eyes looked to Riku.

"Any self-respecting reader knows what books are in the bookcase, and that one book isn't."

"Which one? And where was it?" questioned Namine. Sora thought for a second and then looked to them.

"Third shelf, left-hand side towards the center, black bound with silver writing, titled Spell-Craft and Summons by Merlin the Blue Wizard, written in fifteen-ninety-six. It has a bent page and an ink spot on page number three hundred and ninety-four towards the spine area of it, and a brand of Merlin's crest on the back, left hand corner at the bottom of the book." Needless to say, the others gaped at the detail of the memory.

"Um...wha? No wait, _excuse me?_ Did you just... _huh?!_ " Roxas was lost for words.

"This is why he was one of the smartest kids in our school back home – he doesn't let on, but Sora's got one hell of a memory," Riku stated as he ruffled the shorter Keyblade Master's hair.

"Yes, which is exactly why I was able to memorize all those spells on the fly...anyways, has anyone seen a book matching that description?" the group looked to one another.

"Sorry," Namine said.

"Me, neither..." Kairi winced a bit, knowing that the book had been sent to Sora from Merlin's collection as congratulations on becoming a Master, along with one for Riku on something with a type of information based around Dream Magic.

"I don't have it, but...I could have sworn you lent that book to someone," Riku stated as Sora crossed his arms and thought for a moment.

"Yea, I lent it to Roxas, but... _are you fucking joking?_ " sky-blue eyes looked to ocean-colored ones as the blonde stepped back.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't done with it, and I completely forgot to give it back...I should have said something..." Roxas said.

"Uhuh...well, I guess I need to deliver a punishment to remind you not to forget to return something that doesn't belong to you..."

Roxas panicked as Sora stepped forward, and with simple spell, he felt his hair become cold, and looked towards the other, who was giving him a curious look as the others bit their lips or placed a hand upon their mouths to avoid saying anything as Roxas looked up, and noticed that the fringe of his hair wasn't honey-blonde as usual, but pink. Roxas panicked and looked to Sora, who laughed a bit and then turned to Kairi, who was doing her best not to say anything.

"That's a good color for you, Rox," Namine said.

"Thanks for your support, sweetheart..." Sora smirked a bit.

"Take a joke – you haven't done anything to piss me off that badly. I was just playing around. It'll wear off by tomorrow morning," he said as he took a tentative step back, and Roxas raised an eyebrow about his sudden posture change.

"Okay, so, what? It's some magic dye? If that's the best punishment you can come up with, then you're a sorry-ass excuse for a practical joker." Sky-colored eyes narrowed at the challenge.

"Who said that was a punishment?" the boy whistled, and soon, roughly ten brooms appeared.

"Sora...what are you doing?" the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master smiled.

"Just giving you a little extra endurance training – got to keep your wits about you..."

"Now wait just a fucking minute I just forgot to give a damn book back! What the fuck is with this?" Roxas asked.

"You're falling a bit behind – I thought you could use supplemental lessons..." the brooms started forward – they were some of the only ones that Sora could control, for some unknown reason – and turned their attention on Roxas.

"This isn't going to end well," muttered Kairi.

"You think?" Riku smiled just a bit at the two girls.

"Funny, I think this will be highly entertaining," he stated as Roxas continued to back up.

"Sora..." the boy smirked in a devious way, causing faint tension to rise in the blonde-turned-pink-haired teenager.

"Fetch..." the brooms charged, and Roxas fled.

"THIS IS FUCKING RIDICULOUS!" the boy yelled as he ran away, and Sora stretched before putting his arms behind his head.

"Well, that was fun – he'll only be ran around the castle five times, so, goodnight," With that, Sora stretched once more, kissed Kairi on the cheek, and went to his room before shutting the door.

"What a troll," muttered Namine.

"You said it," stated Riku and Kairi.

 **{….}**

 _Be the One who took your place. When the rain falls, I won't let go. I'll be right here..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: And there's chapter 4. Revive is only 15 chapters long, and most of them are comical with some dark parts in them. Don't worry, Sora's story will be out towards the end, so Roxas and Namine will know the whole thing by the end, because it'll be important for the story that follows.

Well, tell me what you think!

Preview:

"Well, today's the day..."

"That was hell!"

"We should go on a date..."

Chapter 5: Wisdom


	5. Chapter 5: Wisdom

Chapter 5: Wisdom

 **{September 15th 2013: 7:00am}**

"So, how did your night go? Roxas?" asked Riku as they sat downstairs in the dining hall the following morning after Sora had sent the brooms after his student for not returning a book to him, and for trying to get a rise out of him about practical jokes.

"I've had better nights..."

Roxas's eyes were tired, his skin a bit pale, hair messier than usual, and his plate was full of sugary things that Riku knew Sora would not be exactly pleased with. However, the boy looked as if he'd gotten an hour of sleep, and even Riku wasn't sure where that would be, exactly. Namine poured him a cup of coffee, which he quickly mixed with cream and sugar before he started drinking it down. Kairi was settled next to Riku on his right, and Sora was currently nowhere to be seen. Namine was settled beside Roxas across from her sister, watching the girl closely as she took small bites of cut strawberries, eggs, and few other items alongside what appeared to be sausage of some kind. Riku flipped through a few pages in a book of some kind that Roxas hadn't dared a glance at in case in it belonged to Sora. This most recent encounter with his Master's sarcastically sadistic ire was enough to cure him of borrowing a book from him permanently.

"Where's Sora?" asked Namine.

"I don't know, Riku? Will you go and take a look?" the silver-haired Keyblade Master sighed.

"Okay, I'll be back with him soon." with that he stood and walked out of the room while the others went back to their breakfast.

"Is this normal for Sora?" Roxas questioned as he took a bite of some kind of pastry. Kairi shook her head.

"No, it's not. Sora's a fairly early riser...so I hope he's okay..." the two blondes glanced to one another.

"Say, Kairi? Do you know anything about the things that happened to make Sora a Keyblade Wielder?" Roxas watched the red-haired girl as she glanced down.

"None of us really talk about it, but listen, Roxas. You need to realize that Sora is different than most people – especially when it comes to the events that made him who he is now..." Roxas looked down as he heard the words.

"We know he became a Heartless and you brought him back," he said.

"It's more complicated than that, and there are a lot of things that Sora, Riku, and myself went through that we don't discuss because we don't like to dwell on the past..." he sighed.

"I just want to know how he became a Keyblade Wielder – I don't even know how he and Riku became Masters," he stated.

"We're just wanting some answers because it feels like we're being left in the dark."

Kairi seemed to think about this for a moment. Sora had gone through so much during that first battle, and while they didn't talk about it, both Roxas and Namine had a right to know what had started all three of them on this life they now lead, and it made sense, seeing as they had only recently joined them in the battle against the Darkness. Taking in a deep breath, Kairi looked to them as they waited, and she decided that she would try and tell them what she could.

"Well...what do you want to know? I can only tell you so much because I wasn't there for most of it," she stated.

"When did Sora find you?" she glanced down.

"Towards the end, see...we were split up when our world was destroyed – he found me in Hollow Bastion and I ended up with my heart missing...but...you see...Sora had my heart all along, and he protected it until he defeated Riku, who had become a victim of the Darkness...that was followed by Sora learning that he could free my heart, and he picked up a Keyblade called Dark Soul – it releases people's hearts – and ran himself through with it...in a matter of seconds, I got my heart back, but Sora..." the two stared momentarily.

"What happened?" asked Namine.

"Sora disappeared into light...but...there was this one strange little Heartless...it followed me around, and after Donald bashed it over the head a few times, I realized that it was Sora...he recognized me as a Heartless...and I tried to protect him...when the Heartless swarmed me, I went to cover him, and it brought him back, the connection I had with him...brought him back to me..."

"That's pretty amazing, but...what about the things that happened before all that?" Kairi shook her head.

"You'd have to ask Jiminy Cricket about it...I was unconscious for the most part."

"Okay, hey? Where can we find him?" Roxas asked.

"He'll be in the library more than likely, on the first table to your right – it's kind of his designated area." the blonde boy stood and looked to Kairi.

"Thank you!" with that, he left towards the library and Kairi looked to her sister.

"So, I gotta ask – when did you two get together?" Namine smiled.

"Well...it was the week of the Fire Water Festival in Twilight Town..."

 **{Wielder's Wing: 9:00am}**

Riku was having a bit of a problem in regards to Sora, who seemed to be doing fine at first, and then he took notice that the boy looked pale. He had walked into the room to see Sora sitting up on his bed, arms rested upon his legs, and his face looking towards the floor. The boy looked tired, his skin was pale, eyes a bit glassy, and his skin felt slightly cold. Riku crouched down and looked at the boy, who flinched when he came closer and tried to reach out to him. The moment Riku's hand touched his shoulder, Sora had jolted away from him as if he'd been burned, and it worried Riku that perhaps he was going through a relapse of some kind, and if so, then he had to keep the others away from the boy until it was over.

 _"Please, don't let him relapse right now...he needs to recover first..."_

"Sora? Are you okay?" he asked as he looked at the boy.

"I...I'm fine...is...everyone else downstairs?" he nodded as the boy curled in on himself a bit more.

"Yea, can you tell me what's wrong?" Riku questioned as he tried to get closer.

"Don't!" he paused, trying to following Himitsu's recommendation for dealing with the boy when he became this way.

"I just want to make sure you're okay," Riku said as he remained standing where he was, while the boy curled up on himself even more, closing his eyes as he rested his head against his knees.

"Just leave..."

Riku knew the tone that Sora was using by now. He had seen Sora go through small relapses like this a few times, and though they weren't anything like the reactions he'd have to night-terrors, they were still fairly bad. The silver-haired Keyblade Master sighed as he started to get up on the bed to sit near his friend, who remained silent but watching him closely. Himitsu had warned him and Kairi, as well as the others, that if Sora started behaving strangely to be watchful of him and themselves – people with post-traumatic stress disorder could go from being relatively calm to hysterical in a matter of seconds if something triggered a memory. For Sora, that could be sound, sight, touch, taste, it could be anything that triggered a recollection of the past.

If something caused a memory to resurface, Sora could become dangerous for both himself and for anyone around him, because unfortunately, none of them knew what memory would surface or what would cause it; however, right then, Riku just wanted to make sure that he was okay. Something told him that they wouldn't be having a lesson today, and yet he knew that Sora would get himself out of it soon.

"Sora? Can you talk to me? I'm supposed to help you," he said, trying to sound and seem non-threatening.

"As my friend or as a Dream Eater?" Riku flinched, and he would admit it – the words stung. Did Sora think he only did this because of his choice?

"Sora, I'm doing this as both. You're my best friend and I care about you...come on...look at me...okay? Let's talk so we can get downstairs to Kairi and Roxas and Namine," he said. The boy inched away from him a bit.

"Riku? Am I a monster?" the silver-haired teenager paused.

"Where did that come from?" he asked. The boy shrugged.

"It's this weird feeling...I keep feeling like I might hurt someone by mistake...like you or Kairi...Roxas, and maybe even Namine. I know I'm hard on them, but..." Riku laughed a bit.

"Are you worried about toughening them up a bit? Please, you're the best at that, and it'll be something they'll thank you for later," he told him. Sora glanced his way.

"Did it hurt? When I attacked you?"

Those words sent a chill through Riku like nothing had before. The idea that Sora had remembered something was both good and bad, only because Sora would recover, but bear more mental trauma from remembering what happened to him. Riku slowly sat back a bit and watched the boy, who kept his gaze, glassy and cold, on him. Did Sora really think he was a monster because of what he did in the Dream Drop? He had to know that he wasn't the one to blame for that, right? Sora was just a victim, he didn't deserve to be punished for the actions of his abusers, and yet here he was, suffering for it with hardly a soul to be able to help him.

"No, you barely scratched me most of the time," Riku said.

"Sapphire Moon _cuts through reality_ , Riku...I could get at you through your Keyblade – you couldn't block it..." the other sighed.

"So...you remember what happened there..." the boy looked to the side.

"I remember pieces of it...but I know I attacked all of you with the intention of killing you..." Riku looked down.

"Sora, you're not to blame...it was Organization Thirteen's faults..." the boy glanced towards him.

"I...could still do it, you know? I'm not stupid, Riku; I know what's wrong with me, and I know what could happen if I slipped up and no one could help me come out of it..." Riku sighed as he reached out to place a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Sora had always been like his little brother ever since they were little. He had remembered one time when they were young, Sora had a nightmare that he refused to talk about, but when Himitsu couldn't help him, Riku could, and he did. He had talked to him for hours after that when they were seven years old, and he had learned it was a dream about him having to fight the darkness, but that everyone around him had died because of it. In that moment, he had promised Sora that he would always have his back and be there to help him when he needed it – he promised to chase the nightmares away. Now as Sora's Dream Eater, he could genuinely protect him, but he was still unsure of how to do his job as Sora's guardian. Taking in a deep breath, Riku reached out to him a bit more and pulled him over.

 _"I suck at comforting people...but...hell, he needs someone to look out for him when he can't do it himself."_

"Sora, you aren't a monster, and no one blames you for what happened – you're a victim, not the criminal. I won't hate you for anything, and neither will Kairi...or anyone else," he said.

"Roxas keeps asking..." Riku sighed.

"He does have a right to know what you've gone through and why you became a Keyblade Wielder and what you went through to become a Master," he said as the boy stayed a good distance from him still.

"It hurts...still..." Sora curled in on himself again, clutching at the front of his shirt as he let Riku put his arm over his shoulders and pull him into a side-ways hug.

"I know...but, hey, we'll help you out. Now, don't you have some wisdom to give those two students of yours?" sky-blue eyes glanced up at him from under chestnut bangs as a small smile came to his features.

"Right...I think I owe them a few extended hours..."

Once again that strange person momentarily took his place. The person with gingery-chestnut hair, baby-blue eyes, and a gold-tan to their skin. A bright smile came to his features, and then Sora returned while Riku blinked momentarily as he realized it was the same person he had seen on the Destiny Islands before the events of the Dream Drop.

 _"Does he even realize someone else shows through in him sometimes? Who is that person?"_

"Riku? Can you give me some help today?" he gave him a smile.

"Sure, not a problem."

 **{Training Hall: 11:30am}**

Kairi took in a deep breath as she looked to Roxas, who was decidedly not pleased that he couldn't find Jiminy in the library today, but Namine had come running in saying that Sora was ready to begin training. Now he stood in the training hall alongside Kairi and Namine, while Riku walked in and looked them over. Kairi eyed Riku's bland expression with concern, and the Keyblade Master sighed as he tried to figure out how to go about giving them a fair warning before Sora arrived – Riku had insisted that he got something to eat before he started his training session for the day – and looked to the others with a sigh.

"Okay, listen; Sora isn't feeling well today, but he's gotten well enough that he can come in to do some work with us today, but it won't be a long session," Riku stated.

"Is he okay?"

"Not really, but he'll be fine. After the session today, we're going to let him rest," the Keyblade Master stated.

"Okay, so where..."

Within mere moments, a set of footsteps came into the room where Sora now stood with a Keyblade of blue crystal in his hand. He sighed as he looked at the four of them, and then shut the door behind him, while Roxas, Namine, Kairi, and Riku awaited further instructions on what they would be doing. It was as they waited that Roxas and Namine took note of his complexion looking pale, his eyes glassy with dark-circles under them. Sora had bright, vibrant, piercing sky-blue eyes, tan-skin, and he never looked sickly; however, both the blondes knew there was more to what they were being told.

"Sora, how are you feeling?" asked Namine.

"I've been better. But let's focus right now." His voice sounded tired as well.

"What are we doing?" Roxas questioned.

"Well, today's the day." Sora smiled brightly, and the others got the sense that this was going to be an interesting day.

"What? What day?" asked Roxas as he looked at his Master with questioning.

"We're practicing maneuverability. Wisdom Form is a speed-magic based Drive Form, and will be good for you to learn how to dodge and block attacks from an enemy instead of learning it on the fly." Kairi tensed, as did Roxas and Namine, while Riku stood there keeping a close eye upon Sora, who still seemed fairly weak compared to normal.

"Okay, so...we're going up against...Wisdom Form?" asked Namine.

"Yes, I want to get up to my next two drive forms before the end of the month." Sora looked them over as they nodded.

"So, we've covered Limit Form, which is a Wind/Air based stasis, and now we're going to Wisdom Form, which is a...what type of elemental stasis?" inquired Riku. Sora smirked a bit.

"I'll show you..."

Sora engaged Wisdom Form, and Roxas felt a faint chill go through him alongside the others. While beautiful, the blue Drive Form was quick, dangerous, and accurate – especially with the glide ability – and to top it off, the Keyblade Sora used with it – Wisdom Crystal – was sharp and hit in heavy blows. Riku had experienced firsthand how powerful it was, which did beg the question: how were they going to do this? Sora had shown exceptional ability with this Drive Form, and because of that, none of them were looking forward to dealing with it.

"It's cold in here..." Sora smirked as he slipped around them on the magic that let him glide across the floor as if he was on a skateboard or ice skates.

"Exactly...Wisdom Form is an Ice/Water type stasis, and thus, the magic with that element is twice as powerful. I won't shoot you with ice attacks because it might injure you more than the water attacks," he said as he stopped circling them and looked at them.

"Okay..."

"Line up, then," Sora stated as he looked at them.

"What are we going to be doing?"

"Here's the rules: dodge or block as many of the water bullets as you can," he said.

"Easy enough..." a vindictive smirk.

"You have fifteen minutes," he stated.

"Oh, no..."

Wisdom Crystal was raised, and within a few moments, Sora shot the first bullet and the group scattered as he began to move around in circles, aiming specifically for them in an array of blue-magic bullets that at first were fairly easy to dodge, but soon blocking was the first hope they had next to falling to the ground and rolling out of the way, and even then, Sora proved to be quite a problem when it came to the fact that he could turn his body mid-air and jump before using the scope magic to hone in on one of them. Roxas got slapped in the back by a water bullet that made him yelp as he jumped, and then moved again before he stopped, leaped up a bit, and then darted in a circle around them in a speed that nearly caused them to put up shields. Riku did just that only seconds before and Kairi shot a fire spell at the water bullet, which turned it into steam while mere moments later, Sora turned on his heels, spinning as he shot a series of water bullets imbued with magic into the group, who barely dodged it. Roxas barrel rolled out of the way and skidded across the ground, and Sora landed in a crouch before smiling in a manner that showed his teeth before he took a quick jump and spun around mid-air before he turned, and shot away at them.

"I QUIT!" Roxas screamed as he started running, and Sora slid in front of him.

"You cannot run forever, so I suggest you fight," he said as he repositioned the Keyblade.

"But I can't fight something that moves this fast!" Sora smirked.

"Then you should see Valor Form..." he said as he turned around and slid off before firing more bullets, which almost instantly knocked Roxas over.

It was as time ran out that the four of them dropped slightly to the ground. Roxas was lying flat on his stomach, hissing a bit as he felt a bruise bloom on his side, while Namine was taking in deep gulps of air while she sat upon the ground where she had been knocked over just a second before they stopped. Kairi was on her knees, taking in deep breaths, while Riku was bent over, hands on his knees taking in steady breaths as he looked to Sora, who stood with his arms behind his head and a smirk upon his face.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sora said as he smirked.

"That was hell!" Ocean-blue eyes looked up to the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master as the boy smirked as the blonde sat up.

"Well, imagine what it'll be like in a few days when we begin training with Valor Form," he stated. Roxas slumped back to the ground in a near lifeless heap.

"And what is Valor Form, exactly?" Sora stretched a bit and deactivated Wisdom Form before he crouched a bit while Wisdom Crystal vanished as well.

"The Fire of the Heart. Each Drive Form has a title based upon their element," he stated while the others settled themselves down on the floor to take a break.

"That sounds fun..." sarcasm evident, Roxas slowly got to his feet and the girls followed suit.

"It's not that bad, don't worry about it right now, though – we have field training tomorrow," Sora stated as he stood and stretched, while the others found themselves with a mix of questioning and excitement.

"Where are we going?" the sky-blue eyed teenager smiled.

"The forest is our first stop. After that, we might go to Disney Town later and take a break," he explained as he winced a bit and rotated his shoulder before looking to the side, his complexion looking a bit flushed.

"Sora?" Riku stepped towards him, and he smiled faintly.

"I'm just a bit tired; sorry, but could you take over today, Riku? I think I need to rest for a bit," he stated.

"That's fine, we'll check up on you in a bit." Sora nodded and left the room while the others looked him over.

"Will he be okay?" asked Roxas.

"Yea, he's just tired...but we have some work to do..."

 **{Wielder's Wing: 12:20pm}**

Sora slumped against the doorway of his room, his legs feeling weak as he forced himself to move and shut the door behind him with a shudder as he removed his shoes and laid down on the bed with a deep breath as he felt a shiver run through him. Sora didn't feel cold, but he felt sharp aches develop across his body as he laid there, closing his eyes and trying to force himself into sleep; however, each time he closed his eyes, flashes of the small fragments of the memories he had from the Dream Drop invaded his mind. It caused him to open his eyes again in a flash, panic lacing through him as his heart raced and his mind panicked. Sora took in a slightly hitched breath as he curled up into a tightly wound ball and closed his eyes while keeping his mind blank while he could.

No matter what he did, when he started to have what he knew was a relapse of trauma-induced hysteria, he could only try and avoid people for a few days before he started to come out of it all the way. Sky-blue eyes glanced in an almost miserable manner towards the wall he was facing, a window present that showed him the forest just outside and made him nearly want to throw something. Things weren't peaceful, as much as he'd like for them to be, and while he knew Xehanort hadn't made any moves lately, he feared the worst. If an Organization member hadn't been seen since April, that meant they were plotting something, and it also meant that something was about to happen and it would be nothing short of horrific. Sora closed his eyes again and tried to let himself calm down just a bit before he got too carried away. Something he needed to remember was that they were in a minute grace period and needed to enjoy it while they could.

"Sora?" the sudden call of his name caused him to sit up and look towards the door, where Kairi stood.

"Kairi? What is it?" she raised an eyebrow as she shut the door and came to sit on the bed with him.

"Sora, training's over – it's been three hours since you left," she said. He gave her a surprised look and glanced at the clock to see she was right before he laid back down on the bed.

"Sorry...I lost track of time..." she sighed as she reached out and brushed her fingers through his hair.

"Are you okay? You don't look too well," she stated as she caressed his cheek and kept her focus on him for the time being.

"I'm just having one of my off days, I guess..." he sighed and looked up to her before he sat back up, and she moved a bit closer and leaned against him as he smiled faintly.

"Then you should have let Riku take over for the day and rested instead of pushing yourself," she told him as he reached for her hand and laced their fingers together.

"I know, but with Xehanort being so quiet and the Organization not moving around...we don't have time to just wait for me to get over these kind of things..."Kairi sighed.

"I know..." Sora took in a deep breath and Kairi remained quiet for a moment before she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss to his lips.

Recently when she would kiss him, Sora became a bit more aggressive with her. He would hold her tightly, knotting his fingers into her hair, and he would become a bit more rough with her. Sora's kisses were typically gentle, and this time it wasn't that different from what she was used to; however, there were faint bites being placed upon her bottom lip, and his fingers traced alongside her cheek, down her throat and across her shoulder as he gently grasped her arm and deepened the kiss. Kairi sighed, not minding the rougher actions, but keeping in mind not to get too carried away. Sora pulled back a bit, kissing her slightly once more before pressing his forehead to hers as she took in a few steady breaths.

"Hey...Sora?" Kairi asked.

"Hmm?" she watched him hum as he slightly opened his eyes and leaned over, nuzzling the side of her throat while she giggled slightly at the ticklish sensation.

"We should go on a date..." he paused and leaned back a bit.

"You have somewhere in mind?" Kairi smiled.

"As much as I would love to go to another world with you, we do have responsibilities...so...how about we go to town and just enjoy an afternoon together," she stated.

"That sounds nice, so, where do you want to go?"

"Maybe get something to eat and go to a bookstore? I'm looking for something new to read..." Sora laughed a bit.

"We have a library." He nuzzled a spot on her neck that made her giggle again as she knotted her fingers in his hair, combing them through it as she felt the silky texture.

"I know, but...it gives me an excuse to spend time alone with you," she said as he brushed his lips up from her jaw and throat to her shoulder before he smirked just a bit.

"Sneaky..." she laughed.

"You're one to talk," she said as their weight shifted, and suddenly she was pinned beneath him.

"Well, I guess we need a time for when you want to go into town..." he placed another kiss to her throat, his hand braced at her side as he leaned over her, his weight barely pressing against her.

"Tomorrow around three? Would that be enough time for our field training?" A slight kiss was placed to her pulse point, quickly followed by a small bite before he leaned over her again and placed a kiss to her lips. Kairi smiled to him, and he returned it.

"That sounds just fine..."

 **{…..}**

 _I will show you the way back home, never leave you all alone. I will stay until the morning comes..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Sora and Kairi are going on a date! They desperately needed that, because up until this point, they haven't been able to. Roxas and Namine are going to be little troublemakers, though, and since Riku isn't going with Sora or Kairi, he's left to babysit. This is going to be interesting.

Tell me what you think, any theories or assumptions?

Preview:

"Come on, time to go into the woods."

"Why do you put us through hell? Is that some requirement?"

"Let's go before they figure out we're leaving..."

Chapter 6: Into The Woods


	6. Chapter 6: Into The Woods

Chapter 6: Into The Woods

 **{Boarder of the Disney Forest: September 16th 2013, 5:50am}**

Sora stood in front of the trail that lead to the forest just on the border of the Disney Castle, waiting for the others to arrive. Kairi had come with him already, and she was prepared for their adventure in the forest for the day. She was dressed in her purple sneakers, black shorts, a pink t-shirt, her hair tied up in a ponytail, and her pink and black striped gloves on and latched to her wrists while her pearl pendant was in place. Sora smiled as she talked to him about how Namine had asked what would be wise to do for whatever he'd had planned, while Roxas had only shrugged and suggested something comfortable and cool, due to the warm weather. Sora himself was wearing a pair of black comfortable pants, a blue t-shirt, and sneakers, his gloves in place, and his crown pendant.

They had gotten up at around five, gotten dressed, grabbed two backpacks, put a first-aid kit in it, followed by them packing up water bottles and a few sandwiches for the group and apples. Sora had shouldered the bag and gotten out of the castle with Kairi by five-thirty, and then they were on their way to the forest where Sora and Kairi now stood, not doing much else than waiting for the others to arrive. It was at a minute to six that they spotted Riku leading Roxas and Namine over. Riku wore a pair of simple dark pants, his sneakers, and a gray shirt with his hair tied back, while the two others behind him were dressed similarly. Roxas wore a pair of dark gray pants and a white t-shirt while he wore just a simple pair of black sneakers. Then there was Namine, dressed in a pair of black shorts, a yellow t-shirt, and yellow and white sneakers with her hair done up in a braid.

"Good to see you guys made it," Sora said while Roxas grumbled.

"Too fucking early..." the blonde yawned as if to prove his point.

"Oh, well; here's the thing about being a Keyblade Wielder – you sleep less, rise earlier, eat more protein so your body doesn't tire out as quickly, you get hurt more, you deal with twice the amount of trouble more than you think you will, something will always be on your trail. Welcome to your lives as Keyblade Wielders," Sora clarified.

"So...what are we doing?" Namine looked to the forest.

"We're going to be doing our field training here – so you'll have to adapt to your surroundings," Sora stated.

"What's that for?" Sora looked at Roxas with a smirk as Riku sighed.

"You'll never realize it until you're out of the training hall and in the real world. Every single one of the worlds has different terrain, and it might become difficult to maneuver the way you've been doing it. Sora learned by experience, so he's teaching you by giving you experience – it's probably for the best, considering how difficult our lives are probably going to get in a few months' time," Riku explained.

"But there's been no activity...even the Heartless are a bit calmer..." Sora nodded at Namine's statement.

"Which is exactly why we're boosting up the training. The attack in Twilight Town was nothing compared to how it can be when we get out into the field," Sora stated.

"Which would be when, exactly?" the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master sighed.

"Honestly? We don't know. Unless we're needed, we don't have to go out into the field," Sora said as he looked to them.

"Really? Yay...so we don't know if we'll ever be able to put this to use or not..." Roxas's sarcasm had Sora thinking heavily on his statement.

While what Roxas said had a tiny grain of truth to it, it wasn't entirely true. Eventually, their grace period would be over, and they would end up on the battlefront, applying everything they'd learned thus far to the possibility of making a break in the enemy lines. When that day came, Sora wanted Roxas, Namine, Kairi, Riku, and himself, plus whoever else joined them to be ready for what he knew would be the prelude to a full-blown war that would shake the foundations of the worlds to their core. Sighing, Sora looked to the blonde and took a moment to carefully choose his words to explain this to them.

"Right now, we aren't needed, but Organization Thirteen has been quiet since April, and that means they're plotting something big. So we can't waste any time with basic training, we need to get everyone prepared for what may come," he said.

"Okay, so are we dealing with Wisdom Form again?" Sora smirked.

"You won't know which Drive Form I'm in. I'll be in either Limit or Wisdom," he told them.

"What?!" the group yelled, and Sora covered his ears.

"Please, I kind of need my hearing. Anyways, listen, this is the object of today's session: we're going to play a game of tag. The object of this game is not to be seen or heard – be quiet, quick, and careful. You have to make it to the glen in order for it to be over; now, Riku and I will be participating and using different forms of magic and abilities on you in order to stop or stun you, so...be on your guard," he said.

"Great, three normal wielders versus two Keyblade Masters...this can only end in tears..."

"On the contrary, it's not like that. None of us are on teams, it's a free-for-all. Everyone for themselves, but you can team up if you feel you must and work together," Sora stated.

"Okay, that makes this...a little easier..."

"Come on, time to go into the woods." The group nodded and followed down the trail before running off in random directions to try and get to the glen first.

 **{6:30am}**

Sora slipped into Limit Form, the air around him charging with energy as he waited in the shade for one of the others to pass by. Namine had went to the right and Kairi had as well before they split up into different directions, while Riku went front and to the right and Roxas had gone to the left, while Sora had merely gone straight as was now closest to the glen. Having taken walks in the forest so often, he was able to walk around it no trouble, and by now could probably go through it blindfolded.

Sora's eyes looked around while he equipped a magic ability that his Drive Forms had, which was something called scope – it allowed him to hone in with enhanced sight upon his right eye, which changed colors with all his Drives. Limit's scope was known as Eagle-Eye, it allowed him to see at a great distance and focus in on something if he chose to. Right now, he was watching Namine try and find her way through the forest. His single pale-blue eye was the only one open while he focused in on his sight as Kairi took a look around and went straight towards him.

 _"Smart move, Kai...come on, Nami...you two can do it, just get past me..."_

Sora drew Fairy Harp out and pointed it towards them before blasting an Aero spell in their direction. Down the path, Kairi and Namine rounded a corner, having met up along the path. Sora had clarified that they could team up if they wanted to, and at this point, having been in the forest for nearly an hour with no sign of Riku, Roxas, or Sora, they had both begun to be concerned that one of them would be waiting near the glen, and if either had to guess, it would be Sora. It was as they turned towards the path that lead to the glen, that a strong, breath-stealing gust of air shot through the area and nearly pulled them off their feet. Kairi acted quick, putting up a reflect spell that gave them a bit of a shield against the strong gusts as a series of footsteps caught their attention.

"Namine! Draw your Keyblade!" the blonde nodded and drew the White Kingdom Key as Kairi dropped her shield and drew Destiny's Embrace just as a Keyblade came down upon them.

"Sora!"

The boy smirked as he cut a flip and held the Keyblade up and watched the two girls as he kept his eyes on them. Namine and Kairi prepared to attack him, and Sora laughed as he jumped forward, cutting a flip as he locked blades with Kairi, who slid to her side and caught Sora in the side – or so she thought. Sora rolled to the side and landed in a crouch, with his Keyblade to the side. Namine and Kairi glanced towards one another as they tried to figure out how to defeat him. Sora was a Master, and he definitely lived up to his title. The wind attack had taken them by surprise, and neither of them were prepared for the next set of attacks that came.

Sora moved fast, and while Kairi knew that the boy was swift and agile, Namine had never seen her Master in combat. The blonde girl stared wide-eyed as Sora practically vanished before reappearing behind her, which sent her tumbling across the way as he nailed her in the back. Namine slid to a stop and sat up before looking at Kairi, who nodded as she charged him and attacked head on.

"He's quick!" she said in shock as Sora laughed.

"You giving up, Kairi? Namine?"

"Why would I do that?" asked Kairi with a smile.

"Because you won't beat me..."

"We'll see..."

Kairi shot a blizzard spell at the boy, who cartwheeled away and landed in a crouch, the Keyblade – Fairy Harp – made a faintly musical sound before a strong torrent of wind tore through the area, nearly knocking Kairi and Namine over as they tried to attack Sora headlong. The boy swiftly cast them aside with a single attack, and the girls tumbled. Sky-blue eyes looked them over with a frown as he tried to pinpoint why they were having so much trouble with his single attacks. Kairi had done well with the shield spell she'd used, but there was also the fact that, while the Keyblades they were using weren't the strongest, they should have been able to deal with Fairy Harp of all Keyblades, because it wasn't quite that powerful. True, when using a Keyblade that equaled the element of his Drive Form, it would increase in power, but Limit Form was his weakest Drive and only focused on Air-Wind magic. Sighing, Sora shouldered Fairy Harp and looked at the two girls.

"Okay, listen, we need to work on your defense and offense," he said.

"Yea...that'd be a good idea..." Namine winced as she looked at the bruise on her arm.

"Let me see," Sora stated as he vanished the Keyblade and walked over to the two girls.

"It's just some bruising and scrapes, nothing to worry about." The boy shook his head and crouched next to them.

"A good thing to remember is that something that doesn't look like it's nothing to worry about could become something greatly problematic. A bruise like this could indicate a broken bone or fracture, those scrapes could get infected...always heal things like this, no matter how minute they are," he told them.

"Okay..." Sora took a look at Namine's wounds on her arms and legs.

"Come on, I have a first-aid kit in the glen. I should be able to help you out there," he stated.

"Um..." Kairi stood and brushed herself off.

"It's okay, Namine, he can help you out," Kairi assured her. Namine stood and instantly felt a twinge in her right ankle.

"Ahh!" Arms wrapped around her to keep her from hitting the ground again.

"Looks like you've got a sprained ankle," Sora stated.

"Yea..."

"Alright, then..." Before Namine could react, Sora had slipped his arms under her knees and around her shoulders before he hoisted her up.

"W-What are you doing?!" she asked as he held her in his arms and started walking towards the glen.

"You can't walk on a sprained ankle. I'll carry you there and treat your wounds." Namine sighed.

"I guess I have no choice..."

 **{The Glen: 7:16am}**

Namine wasn't fond of getting help from others – she had to rely on people most of her life as an orphan, but she did everything she could by herself. Sighing, she was settled in the glen next to Kairi while Sora got out a first-aid-kit and came back towards her. He was still in his Limit Drive Form, and she was highly confused by that fact, but decided she was more curious about what her Master was doing. Pale-blue eyes looked at the boy as he carefully removed her shoe and sock before inspecting the injury to her ankle. Sighing, he looked to her before he opened the kit and began to unwrap the gauze before applying it to her ankle. Namine watched him skillfully wrap it around her foot and then taper it off before slipping her sock back on, and her shoe. Once he was done there, he began to inspect her arms, fingers, and the cuts on her before taking out a few items before he cleaned the areas and then proceeded to patch them up. Namine watched in some confusion as the boy double checked his work, and then nodded as he put away the items, and then put the kit back into the backpack. Namine was confused by the sight of Sora tending to her without magic and the gentle touch he used.

"You've treated people's injuries before," Namine said. Sora smiled a bit.

"Well, I've had some practice when Donald wouldn't do his job and heal us. I've treated my own wounds, and theirs...these are some of the things I never forgot when..." Sora paused and looked down.

"When what?" Namine questioned.

"Nothing, here, drink some water." He tossed her a water bottle as he stood and looked around as he held his arm out not far from them and used a gust of wind to shoot through the trees.

"What was that?" asked Kairi as she sat down next to her sister.

"I'm using a listening technique with the wind to see where Roxas and Riku are..." a few seconds later, Sora turned his attention to the left of the area and started walking.

"Where are you going?" Namine and Kairi looked at the boy as he drew Wisdom Crystal and changed into Wisdom Form. The blue gleams that followed him soon vanished, and Sora looked at the tree line as he twirled the Keyblade and took a few steps forward before he jumped into the tree.

"He's going to shoot Roxas, isn't he?" asked Namine.

"Probably just flush him out."

"This is going to be interesting..." she said as Sora settled in the tree.

His plans were to merely get Roxas out in the open and see how good he was at dodging attacks. Knowing that it would be fairly easy, Sora closed his left eye, and a blue ice-looking monocle appeared over his right eye before rotating a few degrees as he held the Keyblade slightly aloft and then looked around before he caught sight of blonde hair. The bullet went off, and a yelp was heard as not a second later, Roxas came barreling out, with Sora hot on his tail. Sora jumped over him and landed in a crouch before circling out and knocked him backwards. Roxas collapsed to the ground and took in a deep breath as he held up his Keyblade.

"Good try, your sneak attack needs some work, but not bad," Sora said as Roxas slumped to the ground.

"Great...I still lost..." Namine laughed.

"You just have to get around him – you did it, so you technically won," she told him as he glanced to her.

"Yea, I guess so...um...Nami? What happened to you?" Roxas got up, wincing at his own cuts as he went to his girlfriend.

"Oh, I didn't dodge a wind spell fast enough. Don't worry, I'm okay," she assured. He nodded.

"Okay...but who treated your wounds?" Namine smiled a bit while Sora remained crouched nearby.

"Sora, he treated them," she said. Roxas looked to him.

"Um...how did you manage that?" Sora laughed a bit as he stood up and transitioned out of his Drive Form and back into his normal clothing.

"It's nothing, really, I..."

"Did you forget about me?"

In an instant, Sora had drawn another Keyblade and locked it with Riku. The silver-haired Keyblade Master pushed down upon Sora, who slid back and kicked him over before jumping up, cutting a flip in the air, and landing as he drew another Keyblade. Roxas and Namine stared in shock as a white Keyblade that looked positively angelic appeared, while in his right grasp, was a gothic, almost demonic one. Sora went into a pose, one foot slightly forward, a single Keyblade in front of him while another one was behind him, as if to prepare for a frontal or back assault. Riku laughed and held his Keyblade in his grasp a bit firmer before going into his stance as well.

"Come on, midget, let's give your students a show," Riku said.

"Like they need to see your ass getting kicked." Sora smirked while Riku laughed again.

"Okay, then, show them what dual wielders can do," he stated.

Within the blink of an eye, Sora had attacked Riku, swinging in fast motions at him, while Riku dodged or blocked the attacks as quick as he could. Namine, Roxas, and Kairi watched as the two Masters sparred and felt their hearts begin to race at every swing, dodge, or strike given or taken. Riku blocked one of Sora's strikes, only to be knocked in the legs by the white Keyblade or taken in by a singular attack. Roxas and Namine had never really seen Sora do a sparring session with Riku except for once, and they'd only seen them in combat twice with very little time to observe; however, they were now seeing the pure strength and force both Masters possessed. Riku was swift and stern and strong in his attacks, his movements were fluid and hard to dodge, but not impossible. It seemed as if by mere sight, Riku would have been the more powerful, harder to handle combatant, but if they underestimated Sora, they'd been sorely mistaken. Roxas felt his eyes grow wide alongside Namine's when the chestnut-haired teenager rolled out of the way and swung the Keyblades back a bit before crouching.

In the blink of an eye, Sora had darted forward and landed a series of strikes upon Riku, who looked highly surprised by Sora's speed. That was what Roxas memorized about his Master – he was almost invisible with his speed, he was graceful, easier to miss because of his smaller stature, and incredibly accurate. If anything, Roxas was more afraid of Sora's movements and the blinding, dual-attack speed he used over Riku's strong, swift strikes. It was as the two came back together that Riku found himself with a Keyblade to his throat and another blocking his.

"You've gotten faster, and a lot more honed with those," Riku said as he stepped back and vanished his Keyblade.

"You've improved, too...especially since the last fight we've had." Sora took in a deep breath as he vanished his Keyblades.

"Whoa...that was amazing!" said Roxas. The two looked at the blonde and laughed as Kairi came over to Sora and placed a kiss to his cheek.

"Come on, we better get going. We have to head back to the castle."

"Yea, alright guys, good job today..." With that, he grabbed the backpack and the two of them headed back toward the castle.

"Where are they sneaking off to?" asked Namine.

"I don't know..." Riku gave the two of them a bland look.

"Oh, boy..."

"Care to find out?" Namine inquired while Roxas smiled.

"Sounds fine to me."

 _"Why do I think this is going to end badly?"_

 **{Disney Town: 12:47pm}**

After making it back to the castle, getting cleaned up, changed, and sneaking out again, Sora and Kairi were in Disney Town. The two of them had chosen to stay nearby only for the case of not wanting to get caught off guard in another world. However, their calm stroll through the market district on a warm summer's day was rather abrupt to the eyes of three people. Roxas, Namine, and Riku were trailing them – mainly the two blondes while Riku kept a watchful eye on the duo – and were curious about the choice to go out now of all times. Sora was talking with Kairi, dressed in what they believed was normal clothing – a simple pair of dark wash jeans, black sneakers, and a black t-shirt. Kairi was dressed in something rather simple as well, a pair of jean shorts, pale pink sneakers, and a white shirt with purple trim on it. The two of them were walking by a few of the vendors, looking at different objects as they talked.

"Would you two stop following them? They've just gone on a date!" Riku hissed under his breath as they trailed down the area behind the Keyblade Master and the Princess of Heart.

"But this is weird to me...Sora looks..." started Roxas.

"Normal..." Riku rolled his eyes as Namine finished his sentence.

"He is normal," he stated.

"No, he isn't. Typically, Sora's all disconnected, quiet, and kinda snarky, sarcastic, sadistic, and a bit mean...he's not this affectionate, sweet, shy, sensitive, and all that!" Riku sighed.

"You don't know the real Sora, then. You've both seen the front he puts up when training you two because he wants you to be prepared, not the side of him that's genuinely kind...or have you forgotten how he talked and treated the two of you when you learned that you would be leaving with us, and that you had been chosen by the Keyblade to become part of this war?"

Roxas looked down as he sighed and then turned his attention back to Sora and Kairi. They were talking, laughing, looking at different things while carrying on a normal conversation. Sora was different when he wasn't in his role as a Keyblade Master; however, he wondered why he had heard and been told that Sora used to be different, that he once was a lot quieter, and much more meek and gentle. Now-a-days, he was a warrior, and it seemed to unnerve Riku to an extent that he dared not venture a conversation in. Roxas sighed as he stood straight and walked down the way a bit before glancing to Namine, who seemed highly culled by Riku's scolding words.

"I don't mean to be harsh on the two of you, but you must realize that Sora...he's gone through a lot of hardships, and he deserves a bit of a reprieve from it all – just let him be with Kairi alone for a little while," Riku said.

"Maybe...but, I want to know about his past – tell me about him during his adventures before he met us and how both of you became Masters..."

"Listen, if Sora hasn't told you the whole story yet, then there's a reason for him not talking about it," Riku stated.

"We have a right to know who's teaching us!" the silver-haired Keyblade Master shook his head.

"He's not going to tell you some things, and you're just going to have to accept that," he told them.

"What's so bad about his past that he doesn't want to tell us about it? What kind of traumatic thing had to have happened that was so bad? We know he turned into a Heartless! We know Kairi brought him back because she loved him! We were told that! But we know nothing else! We have a right to know! And you can tell us, so..." a sharp poke came to his back as a hand covered his mouth. Namine panicked and Riku jumped, only to see Sora standing there with a knife to Roxas's back.

"You really need to work on your tracking – a good thing to remember is be aware of your surroundings and _keep your damn mouth shut!_ " Sora let him go, and Roxas gave him a wide-eyed look as he saw the knife in his grip.

"Why do you put us through hell? Is that some requirement?" Roxas asked.

"No, but I'd appreciate it if you'd not follow us around like that..."Namine sighed.

"Okay, lesson learned...sorry about this, Sora, Kairi..." Namine said as the two gave them a blatant look.

"Riku? Go back to the castle with them and run drills until we're back, okay? I cut training short today because I promised Kairi I'd take her out..." Kairi smiled as she took his hand, and Roxas frowned.

"I gotta ask, do you two go on dates like this often?" he inquired. Sora gave him a once over before Kairi sighed a bit sadly.

"No, Sora and I haven't gone on a date before today. It's interesting that the three of you followed us, but please, just do as he says and go back to the castle and work with Riku. I kind of want some time alone with Sora," she stated. The two blondes felt guilt nibbling at their insides.

"I'm sorry...we shouldn't have followed you two..." Sora took in a deep breath.

"It's fine, I'm not punishing you – both of you just need more practice. We'll be back this evening. Riku, do training with them, run a few drills and see if you can further them in magic a bit, okay? I'm going to continue on my date with Kairi," Sora stated.

"Got'cha. Come on, you two, let's leave the love birds alone." With that, Riku gave them a smile and started ushering the duo back towards the castle.

"I think they meant well, they've probably never seen you this relaxed," Kairi said. Sora rolled his eyes.

"Probably, I don't mean to get so tense around them...but..." Kairi laughed a bit as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Let's go somewhere else," she told him.

"Where did you have in mind?" She gave him a once over before leaning forward to give him a gentle kiss to his lips before smiling again.

"It's a bit of a surprise, but I think you'll like it..." he raised an eyebrow before she dragged him down to the western side of town, and he started to get an idea.

"Okay...I'll trust you..." she giggled.

"Let's go before they figure out we're leaving..."

Sora followed the girl, knowing that this was going to get remarkably interesting – even if it was their first date. He just hoped his girlfriend didn't get him into too much trouble.

 **{…}**

 _I'll show you how to live again, and heal the brokenness within. Let me love you when you come undone..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Well, that was an interesting chapter. Don't worry, more chapters are on the way, and also, soon, Genesis will have a new chapter coming up. Tell me what you think about the chapter! Please, leave me a long, lengthy review!

Preview:

"Where were you two last night?"

"We're going to learn a bit about summons today."

"So, you want to go world-hopping?"

Chapter 7: Worlds & Summons


	7. Chapter 7: Worlds & Summons

Chapter 7: Worlds & Summons

 **{September 17th 2013, 7:45am: Unknown}**

Light filtered in through the curtains of a small, but cozy room in the western district of Disney Town. Sound asleep in the bed were two figures, momentarily enjoying the tranquil peace that surrounded them. The afternoon before, Kairi and Sora had spent the rest of the day exploring the town and then stayed the night in a hotel in the western district to escape the chaos of the castle. Kairi was the first to wake up, eyeing the area around them and the faint confusion that came with waking up in an unfamiliar location. She sighed and snuggled up to the warmth next to her before she recognized the scent of fire, honey, and the faint trace of the sea that came with it. Slowly opening her eyes again, she caught sight of messy, chestnut-colored hair that had a few streaks of ginger tone to it with traces of orangish-blonde. Smiling, Kairi looked to the boy soundly sleeping beside her, and reached out to brush his bangs from his eyes.

On the few occasions that she had seen Sora in a deep sleep, Kairi couldn't help but find some peace with it. Sora always seemed a bit tense, if not like his typical jovial, mischievous self. Sighing, Kairi reached forward and caressed his cheek, tracing under his eye and across his lips before smiling as she leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss to his forehead, before moving to his cheek, and then his lips. At first, there was no response, and then she was pinned to the bed with his weight over her, and the kiss being returned with fervor and his hand slipping to cup her cheek before pulling away as he looked into her eyes.

"Morning..." she smiled.

"Good morning, you lazy bum," she said. Sora rolled his eyes.

"Are you sure you want to say that to me when I'm the one on top of you?" Kairi smirked.

"That can be changed..." the girl pushed and soon was settled atop the boy, who sighed in defeat as he laid down against the bed and sighed.

"Okay, you win," he said. Kairi laughed a bit as she caressed his cheek and looked to him.

"I won a long time ago, silly – I have you." the boy smiled to her.

"That goes both ways, Kairi..." the girl sighed as she slid her hand down from his cheek to his throat, tracing her way down a bit as she felt his heartbeat beneath her hand.

"Sora..." he raised an eyebrow.

"What?" she smiled a bit sadly as she traced her hand down to his chest, where a tiny scar remained.

It was a bitter reminder of their most harrowing event back in April of that year. It had been briefly touched on since then, and while many had agreed to not tell Sora about what had happened in the Dream Drop, Kairi knew he would remember eventually and wonder why they still trusted him. However, she had another question lingering in her mind, and it had nothing to do with her own situation involving him, but everything to do with Sora himself. She spread her fingers out across his chest, feeling the beat of his heart and the faint scar press against her palm.

"How are you doing? Since then?" Sora glanced to the side.

"I'm okay...you know how it is, Kairi, there are some days where it's a little more difficult than others...but I've not had a relapse in a while..." he was lying, and though she knew he didn't want to worry her, it did.

"Riku told me about the other day – when we practiced with Wisdom Form. You had a relapse, and you were acting strange...like something was wrong," she stated.

"Kairi..." he sat up.

She remained still as he propped himself up on his hands and looked into her eyes before he took in a deep breath and leaned forward, gently cupping her cheek as she watched him, and he kept his eyes downcast. No matter what, Kairi wanted Sora to know that he didn't need to hide things from her, and it did worry her that he was so unwilling for her to see him like he could be, but she knew that also played into another problem relating to Roxas and Namine.

"I don't want you to see me like that – Riku barely knows what to do..." she looked to him.

"I could help you..." she said. He shook his head as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer.

"I could hurt you..." she frowned.

"You wouldn't hurt me, Sora, you recognized me even as a Heartless, and you're still you even though these things left a mark on you," she said. Sora glanced her way and then kissed her gently on the forehead.

"Kairi, you have to realize that sometimes, I need you to keep away from me because I need to figure out what to do...I love you, and I don't want you seeing me like that." she looked down.

"Just promise me something, then..." he looked to her.

"What?" Kairi smiled.

"You won't give up on this. Keep letting your light shine, don't you ever surrender, and don't forget that I love you," she said.

"You know I won't..." she smiled as she leaned forward and kissed him, which he returned momentarily.

"Good, I'm the only one who's allowed to overpower you," she teased as he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really?"

With that, she was flipped and giggled as a series of nipping kisses were placed to her lips and down her jawline before stopping at her pulse point. Sky-blue eyes half-lidded kept focus on the sight of her hair splayed out across the pillow, but unknown to either of them as he bit down on her pulse again, and Kairi giggled, saying that it tickled a bit, that his bite grew harder, and Kairi stilled. Sharp teeth pricked her skin, almost drawing blood, before he pulled away momentarily panicked as she yelped a bit in surprise.

"I'm sorry..." Kairi looked to him and shook her head.

"It's fine, and I'm not mad. We should probably get back to the others..." Sora swallowed in a slightly frightened manner, and Kairi leaned forward to kiss him.

"I didn't mean to..." she shook her head, pulling him close as she gave him another soft, lingering kiss before pulling back.

"Sora, you didn't do anything wrong. It's fine, come on, let's get our shoes on and go," she said.

"Okay..." all the while, neither one of them were sure of what had just happened, but both knew it was rather strange, but the thoughts were short-lived when they realized it was almost ten in the morning and they wouldn't make it back till eleven, then panic to get back to the castle as quick as possible came tumbling into their thoughts and vanished it.

 **{Wielder's Hallway: 11:24am}**

Riku had just come back upstairs from training to grab a book from his room to review something about summons when Kairi and Sora came bolting into the hall and towards their rooms. Their hair was mused, clothing a bit askew, and both slightly out of breath as they slipped into their rooms to change into clothing for training that day. Riku shook his head as Kairi's door slammed shut, and he sighed before he went to Sora's door and knocked. There was a rushed statement to wait before he rolled his eyes and opened the door. Sora had already changed for the most part; he was standing in the center of the room about to change his shirt when Riku had entered and gave him a once over before he sat down on the bed and eyed the boy again. Sora seemed a bit flustered by something, but what, he couldn't tell.

Kairi, admittedly, looked the same way; however, Riku decided that it would be best to probe into the situation with the two of them apart, in case they had worked on a cover story of some kind. Sighing, he opened his book and flipped through it before eyeing the boy again.

"Seems like you had a good time," he said. Sora paused as he stripped off his shirt.

"Yea, we had a lot of fun..." Sora tossed the shirt into a hamper and then grabbed a navy-blue shirt out of his drawer before he pulled it on over his head.

"Where were you guys this morning? Did you sneak out again?" Riku asked. Sora paused.

"No...we ah...stayed out..." he shifted, grabbing his shoes as he sat down at the edge of the bed and started putting them on.

"Oh? Where did you guys go? Or did you camp out?" Riku inquired as he flipped a page.

"We stayed at a hotel, okay? Are you getting at something?" Sora stood up and turned to him as Riku sighed and shut the book.

"I don't think the two of you need to be doing something like that right now," he said as he stood up and Sora gaped.

"You think we? What the fuck, Riku?!" the boy snarled almost, and Riku raised an eyebrow.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, did you and Kairi..." Sora put his hand up.

"Stop, I'm not having this conversation with you..." Sora started for the door, and Riku grabbed Sora's arm and turned him around before staring at him with a faint glare.

"I think you need to have this kind of conversation – you looked like hell walking in this morning. You look like you were about to have a nervous breakdown," he said.

"Back up..." Riku raised an eyebrow.

"Sora..."

"I said...back...the _fuck up!_ " A reflect spell shot outwards and knocked Riku into the bed.

"Sora, would you calm down! Don't get so defensive!" the boy shot him a glare.

"It's none of your business what Kairi and I do with our personal lives! Stay out of it!" another snarl appeared on his face, and Riku felt his eyes grow wide.

 _"What's wrong with him? He's never this defensive..."_

"Sora, calm down, you're not acting right..." the boy seemed tense.

"Where do you get off telling me that I have to tell you things! Last I checked, you're a fucking Dream Eater and not my father!" he snapped before going still. The boy put his hands to his mouth, eyes wide as if he just realized what came out of his mouth. Riku eyed him momentarily before slowly standing.

"No, you're right, I'm not your father – I'm your best friend, and your Dream Eater. And something is wrong with you..." Sora started to move away from the door, panic evident in his gaze as he kept his eyes downwards and sat down on the edge of the bed, while Riku crouched down towards him.

"I-I'm fine...just tired, I guess..." Riku shook his head.

"No, you're never this high-strung – did something happen with you and Kairi?" he asked.

"We didn't do anything...we just spent time together...I don't know...something's wrong with me..." the silver-haired Keyblade Master thought for a moment.

"Is it that thing acting up?" Riku inquired while Sora kept his gaze down.

"I guess...that's the only thing I can think of..." sky-blue eyes looked upwards to cyan eyes.

"Just keep yourself calm. Maybe you're using your Drives too much?" Riku suggested this, and Sora blinked, as if he hadn't quite thought of that yet.

"That might be possible...okay...I'll change up the lesson today – we'll find a different topic to check into..." the other Master nodded.

"Sounds good, but...we have to keep it in check – if you get this hostile when it starts to rear its head, then we need to be on the lookout for signs, and if you start to feel this way again, I think you should let me take over the training." Sora slowly shook his head in agreement.

"Okay...um...Riku? Can you still summon Komory and the other Dream Eaters?" he questioned.

"Of course, don't you have a Dream Eater at your disposal still?" Sora smiled.

"Three, but I have someone I want them to meet today alongside them," he stated.

"I like your thinking..."

 **{Training Hall: 1:00pm}**

Sora and Riku had been sparring for the last hour after a quick lunch to get some of the anxiety off of the chestnut-haired teen. It was after their sparring session had carried over the time they had wanted it to that the others entered the training hall to see the two Masters going almost all-out. Sora dual wielding two Keyblades they had never seen before, and Riku striking with randomized magic attacks. Each attack was blocked, dodged, or reflected back which left them with nothing short of awe as they watched Sora slide under an attack, and block the last attack before the two pressed their Keyblades to one another at the throat, ending their sparring match in a draw.

"That's still amazing," Roxas said as the two dismissed their Keyblades.

"Nice to know; with enough training and experience, maybe you'll be as good as Sora and me one day." The blonde laughed.

"Your belief in us is overwhelming," he stated sarcastically.

"Anyways, we're not working with Drive Forms today. We're talking about worlds and summons." The two blondes perked up, as did Kairi, who had only ever been to three worlds – technically four, if one were to count Hollow Bastion – and had always wanted to see the ones that Sora had gone to.

"Worlds? So are we going to go to some?" asked Namine.

"Not yet, but we can discuss some of the differences – in fact, the thing that I remember the most about the worlds are the different Heartless that show up there."

"The worlds have different Heartless?" Roxas inquired as Sora nodded.

"Yea, a lot of the Heartless won't appear the same – there were these monkey ones in Deep Jungle, these ones with huge swords in Agrabah, there were some that competed in competitions in Greece, and then there were these strange ones that spat fire, ice, thunder, and even healed up the other Heartless all over the place." The four of them seemed genuine surprised by that.

"What other kinds did you run into?" asked Kairi. Sora thought for a second.

"I remember there were these pumpkin, mummy, and ghost ones that appeared in Halloween Town, and another kind that appeared in the Hinterlands where the Seasonal World doors were that kinda looked like evil Christmas ornaments..."

"Sounds weird," said Namine.

"Not as weird as changes that happened to you when you went there..." the four of them raised an eyebrow.

"What changes?" asked Riku as Sora smirked.

"Sometimes your clothing will change when you go to certain worlds – the munny always did. Whatever the currency of that world was, the munny would alter itself there. But in Greece, my clothing just became a little different, it didn't change to the cultural attire..."

"Neat, but what about the summons?" asked Roxas. Sora smiled.

"Glad you asked..." Sora stood up and stepped a bit back before raising a hand out that caused a series of blue ribbon like tendrils to rise out of the floor before Sora moved out of the way, and a black, red, and tan giant gerbil-like creature appeared. It bore a golden crown wrapped around its tail, its side bore one, and a tiny golden crown appeared atop its head.

"What is that?!" the trio jumped up as Riku stood up and laughed before following a similar motion as a bat-like Dream Eater appeared and rested atop his head.

"These are Dream Eaters, summons from the Dream World. I hope you don't mind, but it's important for you three learn about them," Sora stated as the crown-wearing gerbil started prancing around him, wiggling a bit as it did.

"There so cute, what's their names?" Namine crouched down, and Sora's summon came over to her, while the bat-like one came to Kairi and snuggled up to her.

"This is Komory, my Dream Eater; I've had him since April this year," Riku explained while the Dream Eater of Sora's licked Namine's cheek, and Roxas gave the two creatures a nervous look.

"Come on, Roxas, this little guy is really cute and sweet..." Roxas crouched down and touched the gerbil-creature before smiling.

"Hi...um..." Sora laughed a bit.

"It's actually called a Meowjesty, it's a Royal Meow Wow – a type of Dream Eater – and it came to me after the events of our Mark of Mastery exam," he said as it turned back towards Sora and started to give him a series of licks across the face.

"Are these your only summons?" Riku shook his head as a small cat-like Dream Eater curled around his legs.

"This is a Nancho-Cat, and then there's the bunny one we had for a bit, and the lion, the T-Rex, and the wolf," he stated.

"Yep, but while Riku has the Dream Eaters for the most part, I have other summons I've been working on, and one that likes to do it by itself..." Sora glanced to the side and the silver-haired Keyblade Master nudged him.

"Go on and show them the one you used during our exam, I be they'd love to see it," Riku told him as Sora shrugged.

"Hey, Roxas? Care to give me a hand?" the blonde nodded a bit and came to stand beside Sora.

"What kind of summon are you using?" he asked.

"You'll see, but you might want to follow my lead once it comes up, and as for the rest of you – I suggest stepping back..." Riku, Kairi, and Namine stepped away, but while they did, Roxas got the sudden feeling that he was going to regret doing this.

In a matter of moments, the gleaming blue strands of Sora's magic appeared, and he brought forth a strange object that spun out the second it touched down. Roxas let out a scream of surprise as he and Sora spun around in a series of circles, bouncing off the walls and sliding across the ground as the other three tried to get a good look at it. Roxas realized quickly that the object they were in wasn't a typical mode of movement, but it was fast and powerful. The spinning stopped, and Roxas sunk downwards behind the rim of a large tea cup with blue details on it. Namine stared at it, highly unsure about it as she came closer and Sora turned his attention to them.

"This is a type of summon called an Attraction Flow, it allows me to summon objects that I can utilize in combat instead of a friend from another world," Sora explained as he hopped out of the tea cup, and Roxas crawled out behind him.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." he laid on the floor, unmoving, while Sora crossed his arms over his chest and looked at him.

"Awh, I thought that you had fun, you were laughing," Sora stated.

"I was screaming! A warning would have been nice!" sky-blue eyes narrowed in mischief.

"Yes, a warning would have been nice, but not nearly as funny!" Roxas jumped to his feet.

"That's it...I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU STOP TEASING ME!" Sora smirked as Roxas summoned his Keyblade, and Sora shook his head.

"Dumbass..."

Sora summoned a Keyblade that was the colors of fire, the teeth looking like the feathers of a bird as it ran up the base all the way to the guard with flame patterns and feathers. The Keychain was gold, and the end of it a flare of fire. Sora spun the Keyblade in his grasp, and it emitted heat, and what looked like sparks of fire as he looked to Roxas who swallowed a bit before he charged. The two Keyblades connected, looking as if the fire-toned one Sora wielded would disintegrate Roxas's in a matter of moments, but at the same time, was cool to the touch because the Keyblade Master wielded it as if it was nothing. However, the three other Keyblade Wielders watching the scene were given quite a shock when Roxas struck the Keyblade, and Sora smiled as fire spiraled around it in a torrent of heat and bright color. The blonde jumped back as Sora laughed and swung the Keyblade a bit, causing it to appear as a circle of flames.

"Come on, I thought that you wanted to put me in my place..." Roxas slumped a bit.

"That's no fair! What kind of Keyblade is that?!" he asked.

"This is Phoenix, I got it from a friend...his name is Mushu...and he's the dragon guardian of the Fa family in the Land of Dragons." Roxas took a step back.

"You can't use over-powered Keyblades when I can't use a stronger one!" Sora rolled his eyes.

"The Kingdom Keys are strong, but you do have a point – they're not the strongest out there...Phoenix is definitely more powerful when it comes to certain energies...but I guess we'll have to up the training so that you can wield stronger Keyblades," Sora said while Roxas gaped.

"Seriously?" he received a nod.

"Yep, you'll need to be able to wield stronger Keyblades to use higher attacks, and of course, Limit Breaks," Sora told him.

"Okay! When can we start?" Sky-blue eyes looked him and the others over while Riku smiled.

"Well, first, you have to get better at your basic abilities and stances – after that, you're more than welcome to begin using stronger Keyblades. A Keyblade will come to you once you're strong enough to wield other ones," he explained.

"Alright, but Phoenix doesn't look all that strong..." Sora smiled a bit.

"Tell you what: Kairi, Namine, and you can line up, and I'll hand over a few of my own stronger Keyblades; we'll start with some that are just a little stronger than the Kingdom Keys and Destiny's Embrace. After that, we'll keep trading them out until we get to the three strongest one's I have," he suggested.

"Sounds great! When do we start?" Sora laughed.

"The next lesson, we'll begin with that, but there's one more person I'd like for you to meet," he said.

"Okay, we're all ears."

Sora pulled out a small charm of a planet, and not two seconds later, a small portal opened and the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master was toppled over by a little blue creature with large, rabbit like ears, big black eyes, and a stubby tail. It favored a strange little dog, but not quite, and seemed enthusiastic to see him. Riku, Kairi, Roxas, and Namine gaped at the blue creature as it said something and licked Sora's face as he sat up, and it crawled before it settled on his head.

"Everyone, this is Stitch, say hello," Sora said.

"Hi!" the blue creature called Stitch said to them as they gaped.

"Oh my...this is a summon?" asked Namine. Stitch sat up and clapped his hands.

"Chi-buja!" Sora laughed a bit as it made a noise that sounded like a strange language.

"You could say that. He's a friend...Stitch is an alien from another world who belongs to a girl named Lilo, but she's away at college, so when everything started going down, someone got a hold of Lilo, Jumba, and the others who live with Stitch and agreed to send him over to help us, because once I got back to Traverse Town, I got a few crystals and this charm, which summon Stitch, Mushu, Chicken Little, Genie, Tinkerbell, and a few others...but anyways, Stitch is my go-to aid, and he's a great asset," Sora said, as Stitch laughed a bit and looked to him.

"Sora! Eh! Eh!" he bounced a bit atop his head, and Sora got the message.

"Okay, I know..." Stitch was sat down and he walked along on his back legs and came over to the others with a smile.

"Hi, little guy," Namine said as she and Kairi crouched down to his level.

"Hi...K-Kairi...Na...me...nay..." the two girls giggled.

"He's adorable," Kairi stated as Riku and Sora sat down with the girls and Roxas joined them shortly.

"Yea, and a really good fighter and musician. He can play the guitar as well." Stitch looked to Riku and Roxas.

"I'm Riku, nice to meet you, Stitch," he said.

"Re...cu..." ears perked up, he looked to the blonde boy.

"And I'm Roxas," he told the little blue alien.

"Roc...sass..." Sora laughed a bit.

"These are my friends, Stitch," Sora told him as he looked to him.

"Ohana..." the four others looked to Stitch in questioning.

"What?" Sora smiled.

"Tell them what it means, Stitch," he said.

"Ohana, means family...family means nobody gets left behind...or forgotten..." the four others smiled as Stitch walked to each of them and grasped their hands before he pulled their hands to the center with him. None of them had to speak, because with the help of a little blue alien, they all heard the same thing that they needed to hear – that they were a family now, and they would stick together through anything.

{…}

 _I'll be right here now, to hold you when the sky falls down...I will always..._

{…...}

Author's Note: So, tell me what you thought about this chapter. I love Stitch! He's so cute! Also, just a heads up: Kingdom Hearts: Genesis won't be updated until Revive is complete. Once it's done, we'll be back on Genesis until it's complete, from there we will begin work on Trance Step and Re-Verse. Just remember to stick with us! Once we're done with these following Titles, we can finally get to the main story:

 _Kingdom Hearts: Genesis – 70 Chapters + epilogue_

 _Kingdom Hearts: Re-Verse – 50 chapters + epilogue_

 _Kingdom Hearts: Cypher – Final Mix_

 _Kingdom Hearts: Darker Dream Distance – Final Mix_

 _Kingdom Hearts: Recollection – Final Mix_

 _Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Dreams – Final Mix_

 _Kingdom Hearts: Revive – Final Mix_

 _Kingdom Hearts: Trance Step_

 _Kingdom Hearts: Off The Grid_

We're almost there, and technically, minus Genesis & Re-Verse, we're caught up with BBD. No worries, we're on our way to the main portion of the story!

Tell me what you thought, any theories? Did you guys put any clues together?

Preview:

"Your Majesty, I have something I want to talk to you about."

"Training with new Keyblades isn't as easy as you'd like to think."

"Are they ready for world-hopping?"

"What's wrong with me?"

Chapter 8: An Idea


	8. Chapter 8: An Idea

Chapter 8: An Idea

 **{The King's Study, Disney Castle: September 18th 2013, 7:00am}**

Sora took in a deep breath as he looked at the large door in front of him. Talking to the King wasn't precisely his favorite thing to do when he had to ask for something. Taking into account the last time he had gotten permission to take his mom, Kairi's dad, and Riku's mom to another world hadn't gone over well, he found himself hesitant to get permission. Sighing, he knocked on the door and was asked to enter, and did so before quietly shutting the door behind him while the King continued to write something down upon a piece of parchment with a quill.

Sora watched him work momentarily eyeing the stationary set nearby. It was one of several in the castle – there was one in his, Kairi, and Riku's rooms, as well as Roxas and Namine's, then there was several in the library, one in the offices, and a few others in odd places. As Sora contemplated the reason behind the stationary sets and the bottles of multi-colored ink, King Mickey looked up.

"Sora? Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, um...no..." he glanced down.

"Are you okay? You look a bit pale," the King stated with concern.

"Your Majesty, I have something I want to talk to you about."

"What is it? Are Roxas and Namine coming along well?" King Mickey inquired while Sora kept his gaze down.

"I wanted to talk about...possibly taking them on a world-hopping adventure for training in a few worlds..." the Mouse King looked down.

"Sora, the last time you did this, it didn't end well," he stated.

"I know, but...listen, I remember how overwhelming it was when I went to all those worlds for the first time..." the King nodded.

"I know, but, Sora...I don't know about sending five Keyblade Wielders out into the open like that," the King told him.

"Funny, none of that mattered during the Dream Drop..." King Mickey winced.

"Sora, listen, we had to put you and Riku through the Mark of Mastery exam so that you could..." the boy shook his head.

"Listen, I just don't want the first time the others go into a different world to be during a battle, or when Xehanort makes a move and everything goes to hell..."

King Mickey sighed and considered Sora's words. There was a great difference between the three normal adults and the three Keyblade Wielders. Kairi could handle the trials fairly well; Riku and Sora, there was no reason to be concerned when it came to them world-hopping; however, Roxas and Namine had one singular experience, and that was with their journey from Twilight Town to Disney Castle. Black eyes looked to piercing sky-blue ones, and he sighed as he realized that Sora was indeed right – Roxas, Namine, and Kairi didn't need their first experience with a new world to be in the midst of battle.

"Very well, I will enquire this to Master Yen Sid; if you do this, he will require they have a meeting with the Three Good Fairies if he agrees," King Mickey stated.

"I understand, but...I really don't want them to just up and go into a battle and never world-hopped. Besides, what if one of them have the same sickness I have and it puts them out of commission?" the King frowned.

"You do have a point...okay, I'll try and persuade him. No promises, though, Sora," King Mickey said as Sora gave him a calm smile.

"Thank you for your time, Your Majesty..." King Mickey bit his lip when Sora bowed to him and then turned to leave. Just as he reached the door, the King spoke up.

"Sora?" the boy paused.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" the King seemed to chew at his inner cheek, almost as if he was unsure of what he was doing.

"You don't need to bow to me, and you don't have to address me as a King, just call me Mickey; I told you that before, when we parted ways at the Door to Kingdom Hearts and I went back to here while..." Sora swallowed thickly.

"While Riku and Kairi went home...I remember, but you're a King, I'm just a Keyblade Master; I don't really feel like I've gained any right to address you like that, Your Majesty," Sora explained.

"Oh...well, I'll get this letter to Master Yen Sid as soon as possible and let you know what he said, alright, Sora?" the boy smiled.

"Thank you again, Your Majesty," he said as he bowed once more and then promptly left, and the King slumped in his seat.

"This is almost too much..." A faint series of footsteps caught the King's attention and he turned to see Oswald present.

"He looks well," Oswald stated as King Mickey came down to settle next to him.

"If I were to be honest, he only looks well. He's still quite scarred by those events..." the Master Wizard patted the Keyblade Master and King on the shoulder.

"I heard he has two students now. How are they doing? And Riku, as well as Kairi?" Oswald inquired.

"They're well, but...none of them, not even Roxas and Namine worry me nearly as much as Sora himself does." The rabbit nodded.

"I know...he seems really uncomfortable. Maybe giving him some free reign would make him feel better – let him go on adventures, explore, teach them in the field, and let him be himself. Sora can't recover while being sheltered," Oswald told him.

"I agree, but...the secrets we're all keeping may get exposed before he's old enough to understand them..." the Master Wizard frowned.

"He needs to be able to accept it, and just shoving him into it when it rears its head will only make it more painful," he said.

"I know..." Oswald sighed.

"Listen, this isn't going to come out when you're pleased with it. This secret, the stories, everything...it'll happen at the worst time possible," King Mickey looked down as Oswald finished speaking.

"Then what should I do?" he asked.

"Help him be prepared – let him live his life before everything changes, and don't restrict him just because he's a special case." King Mickey thought that over.

"You're right...he needs to live his life..."

 **{Training Hall: 7:45am}**

"Sora!" Riku called out to his friend as he entered the room.

"Hey...Riku..." the silver-haired Keyblade Master looked him over.

"Alright, what's wrong with you? You look sick again," he said as he came over to him. They had met up before the others were supposed to arrive, and while Sora had seemed fine earlier, he now looked a bit ill.

"I'm fine...just a little tired I guess..." the boy held out his hand, summoning Oblivion while Riku looked him over.

"Are you sure you want to spar today?" he asked as Sora nodded slowly.

"Yea, I need a good distraction..." Riku sighed.

"Okay, so...what were you talking to the King about?" he inquired while drawing Way to the Dawn.

"I want to take Roxas, Namine, and Kairi on a world-hopping adventure. I have a path mapped out already, so, I'm not too worried about that...I just hope Master Yen Sid will understand..." Sora rotated Oblivion before summoning Oathkeeper, which he also rotated before looking to Riku.

"Are they ready for world-hopping?" he inquired.

"Well...I don't know if they are, but I think it'll be helpful..." Riku locked blades with the other Master before being knocked back by Oathkeeper while Oblivion blocked.

"Why do you want to send them through the worlds? I don't get it," Riku said as he dodged a swing, and Sora jumped over him, and blocked the weapon sent at him.

"I just don't want them getting hurt or going to a new world for the first time in the middle of battles or a war breaking out..." Riku blocked the two Keyblades and then struck the boy wielding the Keyblades, only seconds before Sora turned on his heels and knocked Way to the Dawn backwards.

"Like when we first went to different worlds..." Sora nodded as he shifted his weight and struck the blades against Riku's as a few sparks went off and they broke apart.

"Exactly, I think they'll handle it better if they don't have to struggle through seeing a new place and wanting to explore and trying to survive...besides...if Xehanort or Organization Thirteen make a move, they'll be in twice the danger..." Riku listened to Sora's reasons and could only agree with them.

"That makes sense, but will Master Yen Sid allow it? Remember last time?" he asked. Sky-blue eyes looked down as Oathkeeper and Oblivion rested at his sides.

"It's not like last time..." Sora took in a deep breath, and the door to the training hall opened.

"Hey! You're not starting without us are you?" asked Kairi.

"Nope, just waiting for you slowpokes to show up!" Roxas sighed as he, Namine, and Kairi entered the room and came up to the two Masters.

"Alright, what's the torture method for today? Over-exertion? Or punching bag?" he asked. Sora rolled his eyes as he looked at the trio.

"Line up and you'll see..." the three Keyblade wielders did as told, and Sora stood side by side with Riku, who seemed a bit unsure of what the other was about to do.

"What are we..." Sora smiled.

"I'm going to be handing off some of my Keyblades for you to get a feel of stronger ones. We'll be starting out with three specific ones – the two Atlantica Keyblades, and the Keyblade from Agrabah," Sora stated.

"Atlantica? Agrabah?" the chestnut-haired teenager laughed.

"Crabclaw, Mysterious Abyss, and Three Wishes. Those three aren't too strong, but they are stronger and much more pliable, compared to Wishing Lamp, Spellbinder, Hero's Crest, Lion Heart, Sapphire Moon, Twilight Illusions, or Phoenix...not to mention the others..." he explained.

"Okay, so...what's the plan?" Sora smiled.

"Alright, I'll summon the Keyblades and hand them off to you – after that, we'll do a few sparring sessions," he said.

"Um...that sounds good..." Sora didn't have to look at them to know that they were anxious.

Holding out his hand, he summoned a blue Keyblade with ornate guards with orange detailing on it, a green grip, silver Keychain with a blue shell, and a blue base with an orange crab for the teeth. He handed it off to Namine before summoning another Keyblade with blue and gold details. It started off as navy, almost midnight blue at the grip, golden guards with white and red shells adorned it with a golden open shell as the connector, a golden chain with a white shell as the Keychain, and the base as blue that went further and further down until it turned into a spiral of waves in white with blue trim. He handed this Keyblade off to Kairi, and then he summoned another one. It was golden entirely, but bore blue up at the top of the curves of the guard and at the base of the Keyblade at the connection of the guard. Roxas was handed it, and the trio looked to him as he summoned a black Keyblade with an orange pumpkin as the Keychain and a bat for the teeth, while the guard and connector were a set of wings and a skull with a smile upon it.

"This is Crabclaw, Mysterious Abyss, Three Wishes, and my Keyblade is called Pumpkinhead," Sora stated.

"These don't seem much stronger..." Roxas mentioned.

"Training with new Keyblades isn't as easy as you'd like to think." The trio paused.

"Riku? Got something a little weaker than Way to the Dawn?" Sora asked.

"Yep." Riku drew a Keyblade that greatly favored Way to the Dawn but lacked the guard of the angel wing and the demon wing. It bore no angelic wing for its teeth but a strange singular black and red bat-like wing, a silver curved guard and an eye in the center, with a single Keychain of a black heart outlined in red.

"What is that?!" asked Namine.

"This is Soul Eater, my first Keyblade. I received it during the points of our first adventure..." Roxas and Namine looked to each other.

"When did you get it?" Sora cleared his throat.

"Hey, the twenty questions game doesn't take place during training. Let's get to work," he said.

"Right!"

Sora dove after the trio in a singular attack alongside Riku, who swung in, while Roxas, Namine, and Kairi went to blocking, dodging, and counter attacking. At first, the Keyblades didn't seem to be that much stronger, and then they realized the differences in strength and power when Sora locked blades with Roxas. Pumpkinhead was much stronger than Three Wishes, but they still were a bit stronger than their own Keyblades. Sora turned on his heels, swinging broadly, striking Roxas's Keyblade with force while Three Wishes rung with the connection of the two. Ocean-blue eyes looked to the black Keyblade that Sora held in his grasp and felt tension rise in him. For all their training thus far, Sora's Keyblade seemed highly strange to him – he wondered where it came from – and while Sora said nothing about it, Roxas had a feeling that they were dealing with something unnatural.

 _"Sora's Keyblade...what is it? Where did it come from?"_

Roxas held up against Sora's attacks, and then was pushed back while the others managed to hold up. Ocean-blue eyes narrowed as he yelled before charging forward while turning the Keyblade into his other hand before striking outwards. Sora felt his grip loosen and fall away from Pumpkinhead while Roxas stared awestruck as the black Keyblade clanged to the floor and the others paused. Sora smiled brightly as he looked at Roxas's wide eyes and utter confusion. Taking in a deep breath, he moved closer, while the blonde did all he could to prepare for an onslaught of lecturing.

"Roxas..." sky-blue looked into ocean-colored eyes.

"I...um..." Sora put his hands on his shoulders.

"You did a great job! You finally disarmed me! Congratulations! You've made a great bit of progress today!" Sora said with enthusiasm.

Roxas had never seen Sora's eyes shine like that before. They nearly glowed with warmth and excitement, and his voice was bright, jovial, and clear. This was a side to his Master that the blonde boy, as well as Namine, had never seen in full view. Roxas had seen Sora rather calm and kind back when they'd first met, but he'd never seen this side of him. Riku and Kairi were smiling, enjoying the fact that one of Sora's students had made a great stride that day towards becoming a stronger wielder, while Namine stood there nearly gleaming with joy as she moved towards Roxas, who was finally free of Sora's grasp upon his shoulders, and only a few seconds later was turning his attention to the blonde girl before she grabbed Roxas by the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss.

"Good job, Rox..." the blonde boy gave her a lazy smile.

"Well, I have a really good teacher," he said as he looked to Sora, who gave him a beaming smile.

"Sucking up to me won't help you...but thanks..."

"So...now what?" Sora smirked.

"Continue with training – disarm me again; Roxas, Namine, Kairi, the three of you are going against us, and we aren't even using our most powerful Keyblades. Surely you three can handle it," he said.

"You bet!" With that, the trio charged the two Masters and their training continued.

 **{5:45pm}**

Sora sat on the bed in his room, feeling his vision swim slightly as he took in a few steady breaths while a sudden pain developed in his head. Placing his hand over his eyes, he tried to block out the light from the windows, doing his best to ignore the sudden rush of a headache accompanied by the sense of a fever spiking. His body ached, stomach twisting into a knot, head pounding, and heart slightly racing as he leaned over and fell across the bed, curling up into a knot while he tried to figure out what had brought on the sudden sickness. He felt weak, delirious, and strangely disjointed compared to his normal self. Some of the touches didn't feel as if it was him touching his forehead or closing his eyes, let alone breathing or thinking. He laid there, letting himself get his bearings the best he could while waiting for it to let up; however, that was short-lived when the door to his room opened and Kairi looked inside.

"Sora? Hey are...Sora?!" Kairi rushed over to him, and he sat up a bit weakly before moving back.

"I'm fine, just tired..." admittedly, he looked ill. Kairi looked him over in concern, his skin looking pale, eyes glassy, and his voice brittle.

"You're sick, aren't you?" she asked as she came over to him and sat down upon the bed before reaching out.

"Kairi...don't..." he grabbed her wrist in a weak grip before tightening his hand as he moved to where he could pin her to the bed.

"Sora!" he took in a few shaky breaths as he leaned against her resting his head at her shoulder while he took in a few steadying breaths before curling closer.

"Just stay here..." Kairi seemed unsure of his request as he placed a gentle kiss to her throat before moving just a bit to where she was lying next to him with his head rested on her chest.

"You're burning up," she said as she felt his forehead, placing gentle caresses against his cheek and brushed his bangs from his face.

"I know...just stay with me, okay?" Sora took in a steadying breath and gave her a weak look.

"I'm not going anywhere, but you need medicine to get this fever to break...Sora..." Kairi looked him in the eyes and he hummed a bit, seeming to be unwilling to talk.

"Hmm..." she frowned.

"Have you been having nightmares again?" she asked.

"No..." Kairi couldn't tell if he was lying or not.

"Sora...I'm going to get some medicine for you, and we'll go from there, okay?" he glanced up to her as she got up, and was suddenly jerked back down by surprising strength. Sora leaned over her, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips before moving to where he placed a gentle kiss to her jaw and throat while leaving small bites as Kairi laughed just a bit at the ticklish sensation before she put her hands on his shoulders.

"Stay here..." another bite.

"You're delirious, you need medicine," she said as sharp teeth sunk into her neck once more.

"I'm fine...just stay..." Kairi sighed as a sharper than normal bite was given to her throat and she pushed him back to the point that she was sitting up, and he was taking in a few deep breaths before he leaned forward and against her, hissing in faint pain as the sunlight came in through the windows.

"I'll stay, but Riku needs to come and get you something to bring your fever down," she said while smiling.

 _"He's delirious from the fever, that's all...he needs to bring this fever down and get some sleep..."_

"Hmm...fine..." Kairi brushed her fingers through his hair.

"Okay, let me go and get him and I'll be right back," she told him as she moved to let him lay down. Kairi watched him curl up into a ball, seemingly cold as she brushed his bangs from his eyes.

"I'll get your temperature when I come back, too..." Kairi left the room and Sora closed his eyes a bit lazily as she left and he felt his body tense a bit more.

 _"What's wrong with me?"_

Kairi entered the hallway and walked across to Riku's room where she knew he'd be right then, seeing as everyone was getting cleaned up before dinner. She knocked and heard someone sigh before they got up and opened the door. Riku was standing in the doorway, glasses on, and a book rested in the chair near the fireplace. She smiled to him, but he could tell something was wrong, seeing as she was quiet, and typically she would have said something to him by this point. Riku had the faintest instinct that something was wrong with Sora or one of the others before he sighed again and looked to her.

"Kairi? Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Yea, Sora's running a really high fever. He's delirious, too..." Riku nodded.

"I can see if the soot sprites will go and get some medicine from Donald, they can get there and back quicker than I can," he told her as he went to his desk, grabbed a piece of paper and wrote something on it and then went to the fireplace where four soot sprites emerged.

"They'll do that?" he glanced her way.

"Yea. Hey, would you guys take this to Donald? Let him know it's urgent," he asked. The soot sprites chattered and took the note before diving back into the fireplace.

"Riku...can you help me with him until they're back?" he nodded.

"Okay..."

Riku followed Kairi across the hall and into the room where Sora was lying on the bed fairly quiet, seemingly asleep, until they entered the room and he glanced up to them while Kairi settled back down on the bed with him. Riku moved closer, crouching as he felt the boy's forehead and frowned. His skin felt sticky with a cold sweat, and he was paler than he should have been, while his temperature felt unnaturally high. Taking in a deep breath, Riku glanced at the two of them before he opened the drawer next to the bed and pulled out the first aid kit, where he removed the thermometer and got Sora to open his mouth a bit and let him take it. A few seconds later, Riku removed it and looked at the results of the meter.

"Dammit..." Kairi looked up.

"What?" Riku looked to Sora.

"A hundred and three point four...he'll need something really strong to knock this fever down..." he said.

"Will he be okay?" he glanced down at the boy, who flinched, shaking a bit.

"Don't let him get chilled. We have to burn it out...don't feed him anything, but keep him hydrated," he said as Kairi nodded a bit weakly, while Sora flinched again.

"What else?" Riku thought for a moment.

"Getting him in a hot bath would probably draw out the infection or whatever it is that's causing him to be this sick..." Kairi nodded and then looked to Sora, who was watching them a bit weakly.

"He doesn't want me to leave him..." she moved to brush his bangs from his eyes, and Riku eyed her momentarily before looking back down to the boy.

"We'll see what we can do...right now, getting this fever to break is our main priority," he told her.

"Alright, maybe we can..." the door cracked open and the two looked back to see Roxas and Namine looking into the room.

"Hey, we were looking for you guys, is everything okay?" asked Namine.

"No, Sora's running a really high fever..." the two entered the room slowly and looked at the boy, who was lying next to Kairi, curled up, looking ill.

"How? He was fine a bit ago," said Roxas.

"Sometimes you can catch something really fast..." Sora looked at them momentarily before he closed his eyes, trying to get himself to sleep.

"Can we do something to help?" asked Namine.

"Yea, go to Donald and ask if the medicine is ready, and ask him if we should call Sora's mom or Clarabelle..." Namine nodded and took off running, while Roxas remained where he was, slightly confused.

"Why would you call his mother?" he inquired while Kairi looked to him.

"Because she's a nurse with enough training to be a doctor..." the blonde looked shocked by that.

"His mom's a nurse?" Riku nodded.

"Their family owns the hospital on the Destiny Islands," he said.

"What?!" Roxas stared, wide-eyed.

"We'll talk about it later – we need some help with him," Kairi said.

"Alright, what can I do?" Riku looked to him.

"Can you go and get a cold compress from Clarabelle? I need you to also tell King Mickey to send for his mom," he stated.

"Okay, um...do I need to get there fast?" Riku looked to Kairi, who nodded.

"Yea, I would recommend it," he told him.

"Alright, but...if I get captured by the brooms, send in a S.S.R.P for me would you?"

"What is that?" Kairi asked.

"A soot sprite rescue party..."

With that, Roxas took off and entered his room before grabbing a skateboard from under his bed. A few seconds later, Roxas came flying down the hallway, which caused Riku and Kairi to watch the blonde glide down the hall at a fast speed while he turned for the staircase and slid down the banister of the staircase and into the main hallway, where he was able to continue down the hallway. As Roxas turned a corner, he saw a series of brooms look to him before scuffling towards him which caused him to momentarily panic, only for a scent of coal to appear, and out of a hallway fireplace appeared a hoard of some five-hundred soot sprites. Not seconds later, Roxas was flying down the hallway with soot sprites not far behind him in a torrent, pushing the skateboard to go faster to outrun the brooms as he turned a corner and swung around before looking to see the soot sprites chattering at the brooms and the brooms trying to fight them off as they flew around.

"Thanks, guys!" With that, he took off.

 **{The King's Study: 6:50pm}**

King Mickey was settled in his study, working on a few papers when there was a crash of the door opening. Black eyes looked to the form in the door way and raised an eyebrow at the sight of Roxas standing there, slumped over, out of breath, and trying to get his bearings as he skated into the room and slammed the door shut before taking in a deep breath as he looked to the King.

"Excuse me...Your Majesty..." Roxas said as he took in another breath.

"Roxas? Is everything okay?" the blonde shook his head.

"No...Sora...he's sick..." he stated while the King gave him a worried look.

"Oh my, did Riku and Kairi send you here?" the boy nodded.

"They said to get a cold compress for his fever and talk to you..." the King nodded.

"What is it?" asked the King.

"Sora's got a really high fever, you can tell by looking at him...and that I need to request for his mom to be brought here to help care for him until he's better." Roxas looked to the King and received a subtle nod of the head.

"Very well, I will send a message to her, and we can help him until she arrives," the boy smiled.

"Thank you; now excuse me, I have to get the compress from Clarabelle..." With that, Roxas left and King Mickey quickly wrote down a message to Himitsu.

 _Himitsu,_

 _Please come to Disney Castle. I was just informed by one of Sora's students that he's very sick and we may need your help._

 _Sincerely,_

 _King Mickey Mouse I._

With that, King Mickey sent it to her via a bit of fire magic and hoped that Sora would be well soon.

 _"Still, there is a sense of something in the wind..."_

 **{….}**

 _Be the One who took your place. When the rain falls, I won't let go. I'll be right here..._

 **{…..}**

Author's Note: Well, you guessed it, we'll get to see Himitsu again! But it won't be for very long. All the same, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Preview:

"So, you're the one who went to the King."

"How's he feeling?"

"Is Sora recovering correctly?"

Chapter 9: Valor


	9. Chapter 9: Valor

Chapter 9: Valor

 **{Disney Castle: September 18th 2013, 8:00am}**

Kairi took in a deep breath as she rang out a cold cloth and began to dab at Sora's throat at his pulse point before doing the same to his face as he continued to sleep. Riku, Roxas, and Namine were present as well, taking to helping when it was needed while Kairi stayed with the boy. Riku was a bit worried, but didn't find himself as concerned as he normally would have been while Roxas and Namine were highly worried only for the fact that his fever hadn't broken since yesterday. Kairi placed the cloth on Sora's forehead, and looked to the others.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Namine as Kairi felt his pulse.

"It's probably just over-exertion...but I'm beginning to wonder if maybe something's bothering him..." Riku frowned.

"The pressure sickness?" he inquired.

"Maybe..." the blondes looked up.

"Wait...the what?" asked Roxas.

"Magical pressure sickness. Sora's had problems with the pressure in the air and the energy within the world. This might be the cause of it, but I'm not thinking it's that..." Riku frowned for a moment.

"It could be delirium left over from the Dream Drop," he suggested.

"Wouldn't we have seen it before now?" Riku looked down as he tried to think of something.

"It could just be a flu or something," Namine said.

"I think you're right...but still..." there was a knock at the door.

Riku walked over and the others heard him talk in a hushed tone to the person before letting them in. The person standing in the doorway was a young woman in her mid-late twenties with long, waist-length raven black hair, fair, smooth skin and warm chocolate eyes. She was dressed in a pair of jean shorts, sandals, and a blue t-shirt. Around her neck were two necklaces – the first a silver book-shaped locket that rested just under her collarbones, and the second a long leather cord with two charms on it. One was a silver castle with a mouse cut-out on the door and the second was a tower of gold with moons and stars on it. She carried a red bag in her hands and had a backpack on her shoulders. The woman moved forward and removed the backpack from her shoulders and then placed the bag in her hands on the ground before moving closer to the bed.

"Is he still running a fever?" she asked as Kairi moved.

"It hasn't broken since yesterday, and I've been with him all night." The woman nodded.

"Thank you, Kairi," she stated.

"Who are you?" chocolate eyes turned to the two blondes.

"I'm sorry, my name is Himitsu Seiren, I'm Sora's mom," she introduced herself and they momentarily gaped.

"You're his...mother? I thought you were his sister or something..." the woman giggled politely.

"Oh, heavens no. I'm his mother, alright – I had him when I was very young," Himitsu stated.

"Really? And you're a nurse?" she looked to the two blondes.

"Yes, I am. I think I'll be working on my doctorate soon, though...now, can you tell me about his symptoms? Has he gotten sick to his stomach? Chills? Delirium? Anything like that?" Kairi nodded.

"He hasn't been sick, but he doesn't want to eat, chills, and he was really delirious yesterday evening and earlier this morning," she stated. Himitsu frowned.

"Oh my, I told you to rest more, Sora, now look at you..." she shook her head as she opened up her bag and took out a few items to lay on the bedside table before feeling his forehead.

"He's been sleeping pretty well lately..." Kairi mumbled.

"Sora's one of those oddballs, though; he won't sleep even when he lays down. Now, please leave the room for a bit, Riku? I'm going to need you to stay with me. He might struggle with some of the medicine – it hurts quite a bit bringing down a fever this bad," Himitsu said as Kairi, Roxas, and Namine nodded as they left.

"What do you need me to do?" Riku stepped forward.

"Hand me those kits you see in there – the black boxed ones – we'll need to get to work in order to burn this out..."

"Right.."

 **{Library: 9:20am}**

Roxas frowned as he read through a few books that were on spell-craft in the library with Namine and Kairi. Jiminy was settled not far from them, reading over a few details as they waited for someone to tell them that they could come back into the room where Himitsu was working on relieving Sora's fever. He frowned again as he continued reading – Sora's mother was a nurse, how come they were never told? What about their home world? What else were they not being told? Roxas gritted his teeth before slamming the book shut as he dropped it on the floor with an aggravated groan. Both the girls and Jiminy looked up to him in questioning as he narrowed his eyes and shifted down in his chair a bit more as if he was feeling uncomfortable because of something.

"Roxas? Is everything okay?" asked Namine.

"No! Kairi, you and Riku refuse to tell us anything about your pasts! And Jiminy knows, but I'm pretty damn sure that he won't say a word, either!" He folded his arms across his chest and looked down.

"Now, I'm sure Sora will tell you whenever he feels you need to know," said Jiminy.

"Nope, he's not going to say a word. And I don't get why! There's no reason for it!" the cricket looked down.

"Well, I suppose I could give you my journals and then you and Namine could look it over. But only the one that recounts his first adventure, the rest you'll have to talk to Master Sora about personally," he said. Roxas shot up.

"Really?! I'd like to know about that, honestly...and I guess if I know the rest, I can ask him about it." Roxas looked him in the eye and Jiminy smiled as he held up his journal.

"It'll grow once you take it – no worries about it being too small," Jiminy stated.

Roxas took the black leather journal with a golden crown on the cover – Sora's crown pendant, he noted – and sent Jiminy a thankful look as he felt it expand in his grasp before it became full-sized, and he slowly opened it. Namine and Kairi came around the table and looked at the opening entry. It was accompanied by a hand drawn image of Sora when he was thirteen years old and what he had looked like at that time.

"Well, just make sure you return it once you're done, I've got a few things to do," Jiminy said as he left.

"Thanks, Jiminy!" the trio turned their attention back to the journal.

J _une 17th 2011, Traverse Town._

 _Today we met a young boy named Sora Seiren. This boy was chosen by the Keyblade and ended up helping Donald and Goofy fight off a large number of Heartless. We've come to learn that Sora's home world – the Destiny Islands – were destroyed and that he received the Keyblade there when he tried and failed to take the hand of his friend by the name Riku Hirigaya. I've found myself quite happy with the boy's personality. He's very kind and innocent, but shy and quiet. I feel as if Sora has been through a lot already, and he still has much more to go through, he is chosen by the Keyblade and he must fulfill his role as the Keyblade Bearer._

 _However, we have to remember, Sora is only thirteen years old, and he still needs people to look out for him. Donald and Goofy seem to forget – Donald more so – that he is just a boy. Sora will be the one who makes the way for us to fight the darkness and bring light and peace back to the worlds. There is a chance that Sora may never see his friends, his family, or his home world again, but despite that, he seems to be prepared for the costs it may bring to bear the Keyblade._

 _There is one more detail we must remember: Sora will need us as much as we need him. Not long after we arrived on the Gummi Ship, he fell fast asleep, and I have chosen to write this so that I may chronicle the story of the young Keyblade Wielder named Sora Seiren._

The last part of the entry was of Sora sound asleep, curled up in his seat with a blanket. It was an oddly cute drawing, and the trio couldn't help but smile. It was evident that the image was from a similar time in their lives, before Sora had changed – his appearance less toned and war-torn. He looked so much more innocent and fragile compared to the Sora they knew now. Roxas frowned as he flipped to the next page and the trio began to read, it was Wonderland, their first world, and many other worlds that followed it, the ups and downs that Jiminy wrote about from his perspective. Sora changed slowly in each entry, he grew stronger, bolder, and twice as lethal with his abilities up until his very personality changed completely. Kairi put her hand to her mouth as they continued to read through the adventure and struggles that Sora had gone through.

"Oh, my God...he...just changed like that? He became that much stronger and harder because he had to?" asked Namine.

"Sora is a warrior, it's part of who he is. Personally, I think he's stronger than we're almost willing to admit." Roxas looked down.

"He's really amazing...but...we're not done, there's more to this..."

The continued to read for hours, well into the late afternoon, knowing that they could trust Himitsu and Riku to care for Sora.

 **{Upstairs: 3:01pm}**

Himitsu held Sora's arms in place as she injected a bit of medicine into a vein via a syringe before Sora slowly stopped struggling while Riku kept his grip on the boy's shoulders. Himitsu took in a deep breath and looked to Sora as his form relaxed, and she felt his forehead with a sigh of relief. Both she and Riku had been struggling for hours on end to break whatever type of illness had seeped into his system, and now they had finally started to make some stride into getting him better. However, Himitsu knew that this wasn't what it appeared to be, and that some things were coming to a close.

"Finally, it's starting to let up..." Sora flinched as she removed the syringe, and Riku let go of Sora.

"Why was he struggling so much?" Himitsu sighed.

"With this type of sickness, you'll tend to be very sensitive to touch – it probably hurt a bit for us to grab him like that," she said as Riku looked to the boy, who was still breathing a bit heavily.

"Is he sick from something?" Riku's worry was evident in his voice; however, Himitsu merely shook her head and smiled.

"His father had a similar problem. No worries, it's not life threatening...it's just from the pressure sickness, so you can relax, Riku. Your duties as a Dream Eater aren't going to be deterred. Sora will be fine after some rest – the fever was bad just because he's not sleeping enough and he's overdoing it," she smiled as she finished talking.

"Good...he had us worried for a bit..."Himitsu looked down.

"Is Sora recovering correctly?" she inquired.

"He had a relapse recently, but he was okay after a bit." she nodded.

"I see...I'm sorry that I didn't stay longer," she told him. Riku placed a hand upon her shoulder.

"It's okay, you're here now, that's what counts." Himitsu smiled as there was a knock on the door and she got up and started putting her things away.

"Come on in," Riku said as the door opened and Kairi, Roxas, and Namine came in and shut the door.

"How's he feeling?" asked Kairi. Himitsu stood straight as the others looked to Sora.

"He's okay, his fever is still pretty high, but he'll be fine in a day or so..." the others nodded.

"Good, I think we're due for Drive Form training," said Roxas. Himitsu looked to him.

"What's your name, young man?" he swallowed a bit, looking a bit nervous.

"Roxas Lyster," he answered.

"So, you're the one who went to the King." Himitsu pulled the boy into a hug, and she received a surprised gasp.

"Oh...um...no problem..." he said as she stepped back.

"And then that means this lovely fair-haired maiden must be Namine..." the girl flushed.

"Yes, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said.

"Nice to meet you both. Now, tell me, are you really Kairi's sister?" the blonde girl nodded.

"Yes, I am. We were split up when our parents divorced when we were two and three, after that, I went to Twilight Town, and my mom passed away when I was five, and I met Roxas in the orphanage. We grew up together, and later...we met Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy...I guess the rest is history," she stated.

"Well, it's nice to see that the Keyblade was able to bring all of you back together. Now, tell me, are you fine with me stick around until I see that he's back on his feet? Or will I be a burden?" the four Keyblade Wielders shook their heads.

"No! We'd love to have you around for a few days!" All Himitsu could do was smile.

"Thank you; now, we need to eat something and let Sora rest up. I was told by Riku about the soot sprites here in the fireplaces, I'm sure they'll watch him, and if anything happens, they'll let us know," she said as she started towards the door.

 **{Three Days Later: 9:45am}**

Himitsu sighed as Roxas, Namine, and Kairi walked with her to the training room. Sora's fever had broken and he had recovered quickly, which meant he was now picking up where he left off with the promise of not over doing it too much. However, Himitsu had the sneaking suspicion that she was going to be seeing something interesting today. As they entered the training hall, though, there was a sudden wave of heat and Riku shouted as Sora tumbled away from him and held up a Keyblade that looked to be made of fire-colored feathers and flames. Roxas quickly explained that the name of the Keyblade was Phoenix, but that they had never felt this type of heat from it before. Riku dodged out of the way of a flame attack and Sora paused, taking in a deep breath as they took note that Sora seemed to be doing quite well.

"What in the name of...what was that?!" asked Roxas as he drew attention to them. Sora turned, dropping Phoenix to his side as he smiled.

"Morning!" the four of them looked the two Keyblade Masters over.

"That's all you have to say? Sora! Your fever just broke! You're just now recovering; you shouldn't be doing this now of all times!" Himitsu said as she came forward. Sora looked down and then put his hand behind his head, musing his hair a bit as he smiled in a sheepish manner.

"I'm sorry, I have to keep them up to speed – if Xehanort or Organization Thirteen attack, we need to be ready." She sighed as she watched him before smiling slightly while he dropped his hand back to his side.

"You're just like your father, I swear..." she said.

"I guess so...but I won't do too much..." she sighed again.

"Fine, show me how you teach your students," Himitsu said with a smile.

"Got'cha..."

Sora moved over, and Kairi, Roxas, and Namine stood to the side in front of him and Riku as he smiled and kept Phoenix in his grasps as he looked to them, and instantly activated one of the Drive Forms. Mere seconds later, fire flared around him, and in place of his normal attire was clothing of fire red with reversed fleur-de-lis outlined in white with black accents at the shoulder, bottoms and inner half of his pants while the straps had turned black as well. His shoes had changed, as had his gloves, and his right eye had become flame red in color. The group of five stared onward in surprise as Sora looked it over a bit, and then smiled as the others continued to watch him.

"This is Valor Form, a fire-based Drive Form. It's mostly strength and speed, and I can only use fire magic; however, the same rules apply as with the others – the element is stronger than it normally would be in this form," Sora stated.

"Amazing, it's really something else..." Himitsu looked her son over in questioning.

"Sora? What is this?" she asked.

"Sorry, I didn't mention this because no one besides a few of the others knew about them. These are called Drive Forms, they're abilities given to me via Drive Potions – which are rather rare – and all are based upon an element of some kind. I have five of them, but two of them I haven't had enough practice with to use like this..." she frowned.

"What are they called?" Himitsu inquired.

"Well, there's Limit Form, Wisdom Form, Valor Form, and my other two, Master Form, and one I don't touch..." she looked him over again.

"They're definitely remarkable...so...show me what this one can do," she told him. He smiled.

"Okay, Riku? Care to help me show them this?" Riku nodded.

"No problem," he said as he summoned Way to the Dawn.

"You're going to need something stronger than that..." Sora smirked slightly.

"Why would you say that?" inquired Riku.

"Because..." Sora summoned two Keyblades to his sides.

One was the Keyblade he had previously used known as Phoenix, but the other was strange looking. It was fairly big, silver with tints of fire-color across it, the guard was a curved, flame-like pattern with a crooked grip, an hour-glass shape connector, the base was sword shaped, but the rest of it was curved to favor fire straight down to the teeth, which looked almost like active flames, right down to the Keychain that had a flaming heart at the end. Sora spun the two Keyblades out, and a set of red cinders appeared as he took a single step.

"Now, how about you summon something a little stronger," Sora stated. Riku nodded.

"Okay..."

Riku summoned a Keyblade that almost looked like a sword with iron work over it. The guard was curved black iron and the grip was black leather, the connector simple and bell-shaped, while the rest of the base was a silver-bladed sword, the iron continued to curl downwards in rune-like forms until it reached the teeth, which formed into a heart that bore a curl inwards with a wing-like rise from the top until it reached outwards. Riku swung it and the Keychain clinked as he did – it was a black iron shaped heart with silver at the center.

"Now, come on," Sora said as he went into his dual stance.

"You got it..."

The two Keyblade Masters struck quick, and while Riku held up well with the extra strength of his newest Keyblade, it seemed to be quite taxing against the fire-based Keyblades that were being swung at him. The two Keyblades cast off waves of red cinders and sparks that made the others step back as Sora moved swiftly and accurately in the direction of Riku, who barely had time to strike back, despite using a stronger Keyblade. Sora slid backwards with a single strike from Riku and landed in a crouch as he took the Keyblade that seemed to be covered in flames and held it up before smirking as he blew across the teeth of it and fire sprang forth, to which he slid the two Keyblades across one another, and seconds later, they were alive with flames. Riku jumped back as the two fire-lit Keyblades came swinging after him, and he blocked with wind and blizzard attacks while Sora continued to come after him, until at long last, the fires burned out and they returned to appearing to be made of flames instead.

Sora crossed the two Keyblades and blocked a strike from Riku before moving the two Keyblades together at once and slung them forward before jumping into the air as Riku struck forward, and he landed behind him back to back before turning on his heels to strike. Seconds later, the Keyblades rang out to one another, and Sora smirked.

"Got'cha..." Riku had no time to react as fire re-erupted around the boy and he jumped away and took a firm step forward, bracing his Keyblades in a dual stance as he took in a steady breath.

"You're on fire!" Riku said in shock as Sora laughed and held his Keyblades at his sides.

"Valor form is a fire-driven form – I'm fireproof, you're not..." Sora took a breath out and the flames dissipated before he braced his Keyblades again.

"That's pretty impressive," Riku told him as he rotated the Keyblade and the others continued to watch.

"I guess...either way, this is the Drive Form we'll be working with for a few days – after that, I'm going to bring out Master Form, and you'll see what it can do." Himitsu smiled as she looked at him.

"I'm most certainly impressed by how you've grown with your abilities, Sora, Riku – and you as well, Kairi. I'm sure the two of you will become great wielders as well, Roxas, Namine," she said.

"Thanks, so...um...you aren't going to set yourself on fire with us, are you?" Sora laughed.

"No, of course not. I was just testing out a few things with this Drive Form. I got it right after the Dream Drop and I've practiced with it for a bit, but I've not been able to put it or the other one to use. Still, now is as good a time as any, I suppose," he said.

"Right...so, that fire-looking Keyblade, what's it called?" Sora looked to it.

"Oh, this is Fire Heart, it's the Keyblade that was formed from it. So when I took the Drive Form potion, I got the Keyblade as well," he answered. Riku smiled.

"It's pretty neat..." he moved the Keyblade in his grip a bit, testing the weight.

"I guess that's your Mastery Mark Keyblade?" Sora inquired.

"Yea, Iron Heart..." Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"So it was Fire Heart versus Iron Heart...that's...strange..." Sora looked to the blonde.

"Well, there's a reason it's called that – it's because Valor Form has another title," he stated.

"And what's that?" Sora smiled a bit.

"The Fire of the Heart, the Flames of Courage," it was a rather simple answer, but it made some of them excited to start working with the Drive Form, and for Himitsu, it made warmth spread in her chest as she thought of the strides Sora had made, and how much happier and alive he seemed compared to the last time she'd seen him.

 _"He's okay, just like he said – everything is okay."_

 **{….}**

 _When daybreak seems so far away, reach for my hand..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: We get to see Himitsu for a bit, and we finally get to see Valor Form in action, as well as Riku's Mastery Keyblade, Iron Heart. In the next chapter, we get to see a bit of Roxas and Namine working with Valor Form, and a small conversation with Riku and Kairi, as well as two new Keyblades.

Tell me what you thought!

Preview:

"What is this?!"

"Did Sora do that?"

"Just be careful, and stay strong."

Chapter 10: Fanning Flames


	10. Chapter 10: Fanning Flames

Chapter 10: Fanning Flames

 **{Disney Castle: September 21st 2013, 7:00am}**

Sora looked to Roxas, who was standing in front of him in his room. It was early, almost time for breakfast and training; however, the blonde boy had asked to talk to him, and now he was expecting something rather calm – asking for permission to have the day off to spend time with Namine or something along those lines – yet, he got the distinct feeling that it wasn't asking for a day off. Taking in a deep breath, Sora sat down on his bed and looked to his student and friend in questioning. He knew that it was something personal, and that was why Roxas wanted to talk to him alone.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, I just...listen, Sora...I read Jiminy's journal...and..." sky-blue eyes narrowed.

"So, you know what happened on that first journey and Castle Oblivion," Sora stated.

"Yes, so do Namine and Kairi..." Roxas kept his eyes on his Master, but could only look down as he considered what the other would say.

"You know..." Sora stood up and started walking around towards the bookshelf before he grabbed one. It was a black leather book with blue scroll-work patterns on it and matching cursive writing.

"Um..." Roxas swallowed thickly.

"I never intended on keeping things from you guys...I just wanted to make sure you were prepared for what you learned...so..." sky-blue eyes looked towards the blonde.

"So?" Sora smiled.

"Were you prepared for what you learned?" he inquired as he flipped through a few pages.

"At first, I wasn't...but...now I understand something..." the Keyblade Master glanced up.

"And? What is that?" Sora asked him. Roxas swallowed a bit.

"I understand that you've been through a lot of traumatic events and you've suffered for it, but you've endured as well...you've proven to be stronger and more willful of heart, mind, body, and soul compared to those you've faced..." Roxas paused.

"Go on, what else do you understand?" Ocean-blue eyes looked to the boy.

"I also understand now...that you're hard on us because you want us to survive – you want us to be stronger and more prepared for what you weren't able to be ready for..." Sora looked down.

"Good, you've still got a lot to learn, but you've made a step in the right direction..." Roxas walked towards his Master with a smile upon his face.

"But that's not all, you've also shown me that to be a Keyblade Wielder, I have to trust my heart and my friends to see me through these hardships. I have a friend in you and the others...but I also have something else," Roxas said as he stepped forward and grabbed Sora's wrist, unsure if he could get his attention in another way.

"Roxas?" Ocean-blue eyes gleamed brightly.

"You're a kind person, and someone I'm glad I met and can put my trust in, because, Sora...you've given me and Namine something we've never had before..." Sky-blue looked to him.

"What's that?" Roxas smiled.

"You've given us both a purpose...and a family...so thank you, Sora, for being an amazing Master to us and an incredible friend," he said.

Sora looked to him and merely smiled before laughing a bit while Roxas returned it, and mere seconds later, the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master pulled his friend and student into a comforting embrace before feeling Roxas stiffen up at the fact that he was being hugged by someone that he'd only seen the kind side to a few rare times. Roxas returned it, and soon after, Sora grabbed his wrist and tugged him along and out the door with a push.

"Where are we going?" Roxas asked.

"Training; I think you'll be in for a surprise today..." Sora started racing down the stairwell, and the blonde boy could only laugh as the boy finally let go, and he followed behind him quickly.

 _"He seems happier..."_

 **{Training Hall: 8:00am}**

Riku was watching Namine and Kairi practice a few strikes with one another while he waited for Sora and Roxas to come down from whatever conversation they were having. As he watched, Himitsu stood beside him with a soft expression upon her face – she was leaving tomorrow and would miss Sora – however, he knew that they would see her again sooner or later. Riku turned his attention to the door as it opened, and the girls stopped sparring before Sora came to a complete halt, with Roxas not far behind him. The four other people in the room paused while Sora took in a deep breath and looked to them.

"Alright, time for training!" Sora said brightly.

"You're...chipper...why?" Sky-blue eyes looked to the others.

"We're going to be working on summoning a few new Keyblades, and further practice with the ones that will help you wield stronger ones," he explained as he drew the Pumpkinhead Keyblade, and Himitsu stepped back while the others lined up, and Riku fell into place beside him.

"Are we using the same ones?" Sora shook his head.

"I'm handing off three different Keyblades – Kairi, you'll have Lady Luck, from Wonderland, Namine you'll have Three Wishes, and Roxas, you'll have Olympia," Sora stated as he summoned Lady Luck and handed it off to Kairi, who shifted it in her grasp.

"It feels a bit funny, but I guess it's because I'm not used to using another Keyblade..." Sora looked to her.

"Destiny's Embrace is fairly strong for a default Keyblade – so no worries, but at some point, a stronger Keyblade will come your way, okay, Kairi?" he assured her.

"Okay..." Namine was handed Three Wishes.

"Here's Three Wishes – this is the Agrabah Keyblade," he stated as she nodded.

It was as Sora went to summon Olympia that Roxas felt a faint itch in his fingers and reacted on instinct to draw a Keyblade. He swung his right arm outwards, and a Keyblade manifested in his grasp – startling the group a bit as he stared onwards at it in questioning. Sora paused and looked at the Keyblade that his student had summoned with nothing but a curious expression upon his face as Roxas gaped, shocked by what he was seeing.

"What is this?!" he asked in confusion.

"It's a new Keyblade..."

Roxas looked at it in amazement. It was sliver with a black guard with a single point on each side, a black-and white checkered grip, a piece of his pendant connected the guard and the base, which was curved and ribbed in a silver color, it bore black bars near the guard with three spikes of silver on each side, and the teeth were black and silver, and made of the same spikes, but diamond-shaped with a curved piece and a diagonal line that pointed into a two-pronged tip. Lastly was a silver Keychain with his pendant at the end of it.

"That's amazing!" said Namine as she looked at it.

"What's it called?" the group looked to one another as Sora smiled.

"The Keyblade Wielder will know the name of their Keyblades, if they listen. You'll be able to tell," he explained.

Roxas focused for a moment and looked at the Keyblade in questioning. It was remarkable, and he knew it was strong, but so much more. It felt as if it was a simple answer, but as he thought on it, an answer came to him, and he smiled as he looked to Sora with a blatant expression that spoke volumes of how excited and interested he was to see this new Keyblade in action. Roxas took in a deep breath and looked to the Keyblade again, and he had his answer as he looked back to them.

"What's the name of the Keyblade?" Sora asked.

"Two Across..." Roxas looked to the Keyblade again.

"It's really beautiful," said Kairi.

"And strong; be careful, Roxas – you don't know how powerful it is yet." Riku warned the blonde boy, and he received a nod.

"I'll be careful...but, I don't suppose training with it would be wise, would it?" Roxas asked while Sora eyed the Keyblade.

"I think you can manage it with practice. So, here's what I'll do – Roxas, I'll do extra training with you for an hour each morning before our normal meeting time and focus on helping you control it and use your magic with it...but you'll have more training than the girls right now, so that means it's up to you to set the example with proper usage of a stronger Keyblade." Roxas nodded.

"Alright! I'll do it," he said with some excitement in his tone.

"Good; now, Namine, Kairi, continue your sparring session, I'm going to get Roxas started."

"Okay," Namine said as she turned her attention back to her sister, who nodded as she raised Lady Luck into her stance and prepared to block her sister's attack with Three Wishes.

"Roxas, come over here with me; Riku I'm leaving you in charge of the girls for today." Riku nodded as Sora led Roxas to another portion of the room to begin practice with the Keyblade that the blonde had summoned.

Himitsu watched the children work together for several hours, and could only smile as she looked between Kairi and Namine, who were making great progress in combative defense and offense, and Riku, who kept a watchful eye upon them while giving out pointers occasionally to what they needed to improve on, while in another part of the room, Sora focused on Roxas's training with the Keyblade he had summoned. Himitsu sighed a bit while her eyes momentarily stayed on Sora, who seemed to be doing well, but he also seemed to be having days that he wasn't doing as well as he could have. Admittedly, she knew that her son was strong and capable of handling the obstacles thrown at him – he was, once more, too much like his father in that factor – but he wasn't bulletproof, and he wasn't invincible.

Sora would have a point that he couldn't handle what had happened and what would happen, but Himitsu could only hope that he would have genuine comrades and friends who would stand by him. She laughed a bit when Roxas yelped as Sora clashed with him and took a few steps back before getting his bearings and pushed back. Himitsu couldn't help but be thankful that Sora seemed to have rather trustworthy friends and now students that he had found.

 _"Sora will be okay, and I know he's strong...but when he can't be strong...he has people to help him."_

 **{Disney Castle: September 22nd 2013, 5:45am}**

"Mom? What are you doing up so early?" Himitsu turned to look at Sora, who was standing behind her as she stood at the window near the training hall.

"Oh, I just wanted to try and spend a little bit of time with you before I left later today," She said with a smile as he opened up one of the lockers and started getting out a few of the pins she'd seen them use before.

"That's fine, but you know I'm meeting Roxas in a few minutes." Sora turned his attention to her and she nodded.

"I know, but I guess I just needed to see you for a bit..." Himitsu paused, and Sora started into the room, which she followed behind him before laughing a bit as he stumbled and dropped a few of the pins.

"Dammit!" he took in a deep breath and started picking up a few of them.

"Sora..." Sky-blue eyes rolled.

"I know, Mom, language," he said as he focused his attention on the pins and slowly they began moving of their own accord while he kept his eyes upon them while Himitsu watched.

She didn't say a word as the pins moved around in different positions and readied themselves in odd areas or corners of the training hall; however, she couldn't help but be surprised – possibly even shocked – by how much his telekinetic abilities had grown since she'd last seen him use it. Naturally, she knew that he would become stronger as he practiced his abilities, but she never believed it would have come this far so soon. Sighing, Himitsu clapped a bit as Sora finished putting the pins into place and turned his attention to her with a slightly lazy smile that she couldn't help but laugh at as she came over to him and placed a hand to his face before sighing as she looked him over.

"You've gotten better at that," she said.

"I guess so...it's still a little hard to push things back, but I'm getting better..." he summoned a single Keyblade and rotated it a bit while she looked to it in questioning.

"Which one is that? I've seen you use it a lot lately," Himitsu asked.

"This is Pumpkinhead – the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington gave it to me after I helped Halloween Town out back during my first adventure..." she smiled.

"It's interesting...but...will it be strong enough to work against Roxas's new Keyblade?" she inquired.

"No, so I'm going for another one today, but I'm putting him in the thick of it so he can learn control on Two Across better." Sora vanished the Keyblade and held his hand out. The black Keyblade known as Oblivion came to his grasp, and he swung it slightly, testing the weight.

"Are you having trouble with Oblivion?" Himitsu questioned.

"No, I do that just out of habit...I know this Keyblade as well as I know myself..." Sora glanced to her as she bit her lip.

"That's good, it does represent your heart, right?" she inquired.

"Yea, but don't worry...Roxas just needs to learn how to adapt quicker to his surroundings – these pins aren't rigged to manifest anything more than a few Heartless." She nodded and the door opened to show a slightly tired looking-blonde teen standing there as the doors closed behind him, and he yawned.

"Morning," he said tiredly.

"Good morning." Himitsu stepped back, watching Roxas walk towards Sora before he spotted Oblivion.

"About time you got here! Are you ready to begin?" Sora asked as he turned his attention to his student.

"Yea, I guess...why is Oblivion out?" Roxas looked to the black Keyblade, and Sora smiled.

"Because it's just a bit stronger than Two Across, and that means it'll do well against it," he replied as Roxas nodded.

"Okay, what are we doing?" Sora looked to him and smiled again.

"What you have to do is defeat the pins that are scattered around the room. They're rigged with magic to appear as Heartless, so be prepared – I'm also going to inform you ahead of time that we're working with Valor Form again later, so I'll give you a half-hour to rest up before training resumes at eight today," Sora informed him of this, and Roxas nodded as he held out his hand and summoned Two Across.

"Let's get started, then."

"Right, step into the center and they'll start," he said as he stepped back while Himitsu smiled, knowing that Roxas would be in for a tough session.

 **{Two Hours Later: 7:40am}**

Kairi sighed as she walked down to the training hall with Riku while Namine had gone ahead. She had just gotten changed, eaten something, and was ready for the day's session. Riku was rather quiet that morning and kept glancing in her direction as they headed further down the hallway; however, despite the oddity, Kairi did wonder about the fact that Roxas had summoned a new Keyblade and that he was fortunate enough to begin an excelled training schedule so that he could properly use it. Admittedly, Kairi was looking forward to the day that she could summon a stronger Keyblade and join Roxas in an upper level training segment, like Namine did as well. She smiled a bit as she considered that it would at the least be a means to spend more time with her Keyblade Master boyfriend. Sighing again, Riku cleared his throat, and she glanced his way.

"What are you thinking about that's got you so down today?" asked Riku.

"I'm just kind of wishing I could have more time with Sora, I guess..." Kairi frowned, and Riku hummed.

"Well, I thought after that last round, you guys would be good for a bit," he stated as Kairi flushed.

"Riku! It wasn't like that! We just wanted to spend some alone time with each other and not have to worry about being interrupted!" the silver-haired Keyblade Master frowned.

"The two of you haven't been sneaking around doing things, have you?" he asked her and she glowered.

"No! And would you stop with the personal questions? It's a little annoying." Riku nodded.

"Okay, but I've been meaning to ask, is Sora acting odd around you?" he inquired.

"Odd?" Kairi looked to him.

"Has he been acting frantic? Defensive? Aggressive? Distant, even?" Riku summarized what he felt was strange behavior for their typically sweet yet fiery friend when it came to how he had seen Sora react to things lately.

"He's been a bit distracted, I guess...maybe a bit more rough with me if we get a bit intimate, but...nothing really bad I guess..." Riku looked her over again as she thought.

"Did Sora do that?" he asked as he pointed to a faint bruise on her throat. Kairi put her hand to it.

"He um...yea...if he gets a little carried away, he'll bite me, and normally it's little love bites almost, they tickle more than anything, but...recently...if he does it...it starts out gentle and then becomes harsh and bruising...I had to push him back when he started with a fever because he got too rough..." she seemed genuinely concerned by this, and Riku couldn't blame her.

"He was delirious that time, but how often does this happen?" Kairi glanced down.

"Since before our parents left...when he had that nightmare, he got a bit rougher with me, but it wasn't a big deal, he just held me closer, but...then after they left, he got a lot rougher...almost bruising...I don't know what's wrong with him..." she said as Riku frowned.

"He's probably been feeling sick for a bit and some of the actions might just be a means to distract himself from the relapses he's had...but we're not out of the woods, yet, I think we should probably be bracing ourselves for another one soon." Riku looked to Kairi, who bit her lip.

"If he starts having them, I don't care what I have to do to keep him from hurting himself or someone else without realizing it...I don't want him feeling any guilt for it..." she said.

"That's my responsibility, so don't worry about it, Kairi. I'm his Dream Eater – I have to help him with this – and I promised his mom I would..." Kairi frowned as she looked to him.

"Riku, he's my boyfriend and someone I truly love – I need to be there for him, too," she said.

"I get it...but if I tell you to let me handle him, then you better let me do it. He's dangerous when he starts to become hysterical...I don't want him regretting the fact that he hurt you." Kairi looked down, but nodded.

"I understand, but...I just want to help him," she stated. Riku nodded.

"We'll all help him, but there's something I think we need to prepare for..." Kairi looked to him.

"What?" she inquired.

"Explaining it to Roxas and Namine. To their knowledge, Sora remembers nothing about the Dream Drop, so that means..." she nodded.

"If he went into a relapse, they wouldn't know what was happening, and he'll run from us before we can calm him down," Kairi mentioned.

"Just be ready for damage control. I'll deal with him, and if he asks for you, I'll send a soot sprite to get you, so be on the lookout for one of them as well." She nodded again.

"Okay, that sounds like a good plan..." Riku smiled.

"Good, now, I think we need to go liberate Roxas from the torture of being forced to battle those image pins," he stated as Kairi winced.

"Yea, that'd probably be a good idea..." With that, the two of them headed off towards the training hall and tried to steel themselves for the insanity that would come.

 **{Disney Castle: September 23rd 2013, 7:59am}**

Himitsu laughed a bit as she watched the group do a few sparring sessions before they were going to see her off. Sora and Roxas were making great progress, and she was pleased to see that while Sora was tough on his two students, they were also treated with compassion and understanding when they messed up. Riku and Kairi had joined in on the sparring session and had turned out to be quite good at it as well, while Sora supervised whilst in the midst of the session, and Riku gave a few pointers where Sora couldn't keep his full attention. She could only smile and the bright looks on all their faces as they locked weapons with each other and struck back and forth – they were happy and had become a family together. Himitsu sighed slightly as she considered how at home Sora appeared in the midst of the teenagers sparring with their Keyblades out, and how at ease he was when giving advice on blocking a few of the attacks. It was nothing short of welcoming. However, Himitsu knew that it wouldn't be permanent, only because their grace period would end and people would begin to come back out of the woodwork and cause chaos and panic in the other worlds, which would call the Keyblade Wielders to arms.

 _"And then...war will begin...and so many things that have remained hidden will begin to surface...we can only hope that, by some chance...everything will be as okay as it is now..."_

"Sora!" she called to him, and he looked to her.

"Yea, Mom?" he started towards her as the others paused.

"Can you walk me to the courtyard? I need to head on." He nodded, while Kairi, Roxas, Namine, and Riku stayed behind.

"I'll be back in a bit, okay, guys? Riku? Keep them going," Sora stated as he headed out the door with his mom.

"He seems a bit sad..." Riku nodded.

"It's hard...being so far away from our home world and our families...but seeing them like that...it makes the moments with them all the more worth it," he said.

"Yea, well, come on! Sora will kick our asses if we don't get back to work." With that, they picked up where they left off.

Down the hallway, Himitsu and Sora were walking in silence towards the courtyard where she could leave from a warp point that the King had set up for the people who had been granted passage. The silence was oddly biting and a bit frustrating to Himitsu, who almost felt disconnected from her son. Chocolate brown eyes looked to the boy beside her, and she sighed as she reached out and put her arm around the boy, who looked to her in questioning as she pulled him closer and took in a deep breath. Sora's scent had changed since that first time she had been able to see him since before the events of the Dream Drop.

He had always smelled like the ocean, apples, and vanilla, but after the events of his Mark of Mastery exam, his scent favored salt, fire, and smoke. Once again, it had changed, the remaining scent of the ocean was present, with the faintest traces of cinnamon and honey, which caused her to raise an eyebrow but ignore it for the most part as she held him tight. If Himitsu could have it her way, she would remain with him at the castle and help out, but she knew she couldn't – Sora had responsibilities now. His students, his life as a Master, and Kairi were the things he needed to focus on, and the things that would eventually come his way. Himitsu held him close for just a moment longer, and Sora only remained still, returning her embrace with his arms around her waist and his face rested against her shoulder.

She wondered if he was happy here with all the things he had to do, and she wondered if he was going to be okay, if he would recover to where he could just be who he once was again, or if he would only be scarred further. She tightened her grasp around him, running her fingers through his hair as she closed her eyes. There was so much going on and so many things that she couldn't protect him from no matter how hard she tried, but she had decided to let him go, and all she could do now was be there for him when he needed her.

"Sora, I love you," she said.

"I love you, too, Mom." Himitsu looked to him and brushed his bangs from his eyes.

"Look at you...every time I see you, it seems you've gotten taller and stronger," she stated. Sora frowned a bit.

"I doubt I've gotten that tall...I'm still a runt..." she laughed a bit at his statement.

"Your father wasn't that tall, either – he was just a few inches taller than I am. But he never let that stop him from owning who he was and standing strong. I just...wish he could see you now," she stated. Sora smiled.

"I think he's watching over me...I get this feeling sometimes that I've got someone guiding me along since all this began." Himitsu smiled softly as she cupped his cheek.

"It wouldn't surprise me if he's keeping an eye on you...Sora?" she stated as he looked to her with the same eyes that seemed gentle and calm.

"Mom?" she leaned forward and kissed his forehead while running her fingers through his hair.

"You look more and more like your father every day. Since I saw you last time, you've gotten stronger and braver...you're so much like him, and that's a good thing – don't forget, your father was a brave, kind, and gentle person with the heart of a lion...he was a wonderful person who touched the hearts of everyone he knew...just like you," she stated as she hugged him once more.

"Then I'll do my best to make him and you proud." He gave her a soft smile, and the woman continued to walk, with a returned smile.

"Just be careful, and stay strong," she said.

"I will..."

 **{….}**

 _When hope and peace begin to fray, still I will stand..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: Well, there's chapter 10. I know it seems that Himitsu is fond of heartfelt goodbyes, but can you blame her? She has no clue if this is the last time she'll see Sora again or not. This is considerably pre-wartime, and things can be less than pleasant; however, fear not, there won't be a lot of problems for the group for a while. This is a story that fills in the gap between Birth by Dreams and Trance Step. Let me know what you think!

Also, here's the official update schedule:

Friday – Revive 4:30pm

Saturday – Birth by Dreams Final Mix 4:30pm

Sunday – Genesis 4:30pm

This is the complete schedule, and will be updated on these days at these times every week. Once a story is complete, it's title will be replaced in the time slot with a different story.

Preview:

"What are you doing?"

"Today's an off day."

"So...tell me about your home world!"

Chapter 11: Journals


	11. Chapter 11: Journals

Chapter 11: Journals

 **{Disney Castle: September 26th 2013: 9:05am}**

Roxas stretched a bit and looked around as he heard thunder clap in the clouds. Ocean-blue eyes looked around the dim room as dull, gray light came in through the windows as he got out of bed, and went over to the window where he looked over the horizon at the dull sky as lightening briefly flashed and rain began to pelt the windows and castle. Roxas sighed and started to stretch as he heard a knock at his door, and looked at the area, where Riku was coming into see if he was awake or not.

"Morning," he said as he leaned against the doorway.

"Uh...morning?" Riku sighed.

"Did you not sleep well?" he inquired.

"No, I slept fine...but...normally...Sora is the one who comes in here to pester me in the mornings..." the silver-haired Keyblade Master looked down.

"Sora's sleeping in a bit – we've got rain coming in for the rest of the week, and he's feeling a bit off today...so we get the rest of the week off," Riku stated.

"What?! But it's Monday...how are we going to do that?" Roxas was definitely surprised by the statement, but also slightly concerned.

"We'll be fine. Sometimes rest is a good thing," he assured him.

"Okay...what's the catch?" giving the Keyblade Master a quizzical look, Roxas crossed his arms, and frowned.

"No catch, just enjoy the week off. We're going to be spending a lot of down time...see you at breakfast," Riku stated.

Roxas raised an eyebrow at the statement as Riku left his room and went about waking up the others. Kairi seemed to be already awake, as did Namine; however, Roxas himself was wondering why Sora had decided to take the week off. Rain didn't seem like a good enough reason, and honestly, he suspected to be training in the rain to help them with adapting to the environmental changes – or something like that – but instead, they got the week free to do whatever they wanted.

Roxas sighed as he glanced towards the closed door of his room and the window, where he saw dark, blackish-gray-blue clouds rolling overhead before smiling as he went towards the wardrobe, where he walked over and grabbed a pair of comfortable clothes and changed before putting on his shoes and heading out of the room and down the hallway for breakfast. Needless to say, he was looking forward to a break from normal training sessions. However, during their week of silence, Roxas got the worst feeling that some of their questions would be answered, but it wouldn't be in the easiest of ways. In fact, he believed that nothing about this week would go smoothly.

 **{Downstairs: 10:00am}**

Roxas, Namine, Kairi, and Riku settled at the table later than usual in the morning, and prepared for a late breakfast on a cloudy, rainy day. It was quiet for the most part as they sat there – Riku was reading through a few reports that had been given to him that morning, Kairi was breezing through a book she had taken from the library on summons while Namine was reading over her shoulder, and Roxas looked them over with further confusion at the fact that Sora wasn't present once more. Normally – even on these rather bizarre off days – Sora would be downstairs with them, and he would be involved in a conversation or just coming in battling off the brooms that had managed to catch up to him at some point; however, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Sora this time?" he asked.

"Coming, he was sleeping in this morning – that's why there's no training this week." Kairi frowned as she put down her book, stuck the placeholder in it, and closed it before looking down at her plate.

"He was acting off this morning...I think he's having some trouble again," she stated while glancing towards Riku.

"I don't doubt it. Remember the last time it rained this bad?" the silver-haired Keyblade Master looked through a few more papers as he talked, and then pushed his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose again.

"I thought that was fixed, though...and he wasn't sick like that last time...he had another nightmare..." Riku paused in his work while Roxas and Namine did much the same.

" _A nightmare?_ That's why he's sleeping in?" inquired Namine.

"He has some pretty nasty ones from time to time..." Roxas looked down.

"Has he done anything for them, then?" he questioned as he looked to Kairi and Riku.

"It's not really the kind you can fix with a dreamless sleep potion..." ocean-blue eyes looked back to the plate before him.

"Oh..."

The door creaked open and Sora slowly entered before shutting the door back. He walked over to Kairi and kissed her cheek before sitting down and poured a cup of green tea as he rested his head on his arms, which were folded atop the table. The two blondes glanced him over, noticing the messier-than-normal state of his hair and the faint pallor to his complexion as he sighed tiredly. Kairi put a hand upon his shoulder, and he sighed as he looked towards her and Riku, who gave him a weary smile as he sat up and stretched a bit as he grabbed the tea cup with both his hands and took a slight sip of it while looking to Roxas, who swallowed a bit thickly.

"What are you doing?" he asked tiredly.

" Watching you...you look like hell..." Sora rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine, just tired. Anyways, today's an off day...enjoy the peace and quiet," he said half-heartedly as he took a few of the papers that Riku had finished with and began to read them over as well.

"What're the reports talking about?" Sora glanced over the top of one as he took another sip of the tea.

"It's just some people telling us what's going on with the Heartless," Riku stated. Kairi frowned.

"Which worlds?" Sora sighed as he looked the papers over.

"Hollow Bastion, Radiant Garden, Daybreak Town, Traverse Town, Halloween Town, Christmas Town, Burgess, Owari, High Noon Town, Port Royal, Kingdom of Lucis, the Coliseum, hmm...there's a few new ones on here..." he said in half-thought.

"Yea, I noticed that, too..." Riku looked his papers over.

"New ones?" questioned Namine.

"Yea, we've got...four...maybe five new worlds that are experiencing Heartless and Nobodies..." the group looked him over.

"What about Organization Thirteen?" asked Roxas.

"Nothing...which does have me worried, because we've got more worlds being infected by the Heartless...and now Nobodies..." Sora looked to the papers.

"What are the new worlds?" Kairi probed as she looked at the documents Sora was reading.

"Let's see...Amestris, True Cross, a place called Loop Seven got jammed up with a flood of Neos recently, but they're doing well...then there was this place called the Black Order, but they've had two maybe three Nobodies and just under a dozen Heartless – nothing to be worried about..." Riku looked to Sora, who frowned.

"What about that camp?" Sora inquired.

"What camp?" Sky-blue eyes looked at the papers.

"Oh! We've got six worlds...whoops...let's see...a place called Fennmont, and a place known as Half-Blood Hill..." he stated.

"Those place just sound lovely..." Sora and Riku glanced to Roxas.

"Owari and Burgess have some really great allies for us. Jack Frost and Yui Amane," he told them.

"Whoa... _Jack Frost?_ As in..." Riku shifted through the paper discussing the activity in Amestris while Sora checked over another one that covered activity in Half-Blood Hill and Fennmont.

"King of Winter, Guardian of Levity, Reaper of the Moon, and Embodiment of the Season of Frost? Yea, that's him," Sora said as he frowned.

"What? Is something wrong?" sky-blue eyes glanced to cyan.

"In Fennmont, there's this kid named Jude Mathis – he's been in the middle of these Heartless attacks recently...he's real shook up, from what we've been told by a few of our eyes and ears – he has a group with him, too, and they're keeping an eye on them for the time being via shadow watchers," Sora stated.

"Well, that sounds like the best idea..." Riku frowned as he looked at the papers again.

"Six new worlds? What should we do now?" Sora stretched again and took another sip of the green tea.

"For now, we just wait for any updates. If we don't keep a close watch on them, though...something really bad could happen, so we'll have to keep an eye the boy especially," he said slowly as he looked at the last of the papers.

"I'll keep watch on three and you'll keep watch on three?" Sora nodded to Riku's question and looked at the three papers he had.

"I've got Loop Seven, Fennmont, and Half-Blood Hill," he looked at the three papers.

"And I'll take care of Amestris, the Black Order, and True Cross..." the two Masters settled upon that, while Roxas and Namine sat there in faint curiosity.

"Why would you keep an eye on that boy?" asked Roxas.

"Because he could be a Keyblade Bearer – that might be why he's attracting the Heartless and the Nobodies..." Namine frowned at the statement.

"Sora? Can I ask you a question?" she inquired. Sora glanced over the top of the report for Loop Seven.

"Sure, what is it?" he turned his attention back to the paper.

"Why do Heartless and Nobodies come towards people who are Keyblade Bearers?" she probed. The boy sat the papers down – letting them see it was coupled with a few pictures of some of the people they wanted to keep tabs on – and sighed as he rubbed his temples, feeling a faint headache coming on.

"It's the darkness in our hearts and the power of the Keyblade that makes us targets. If we don't keep tabs on people who draw attention from the Heartless, we may miss out on a chance to gain more Bearers of the Keyblade..." the two blondes took the information in.

"Okay, but what about the Princesses of Heart?" inquired Roxas.

"I'm the only Princess of Heart that can wield a Keyblade, Roxas. I'm a special case in this situation." Namine and Roxas looked to Kairi.

"You're a Princess of Heart?!" Riku laughed.

"Yep, she's the seventh Princess, and she's got the heart of the Keyblade Master destined to kill Xehanort Erebus," he said as he looked to Sora, who rolled his eyes.

"Do you know how close you were to having that situation upon your shoulders?" Riku shrugged.

"I do. However, it still would have fallen to you...seeing as the Silver Kingdom Key came to you first," he explained. Sora took in a deep breath and slumped in his seat.

"I know...so no matter what I did, I couldn't escape it...anyways...what are you staring all slack jawed about?" Roxas shut his mouth.

"I gotta ask...I learned about your first adventure not too long ago...but Xehanort Erebus, have you ever met the guy?" he questioned.

"No, but I have met his Heartless and his Nobody...atop all of that...I've met the people and things he controls...I don't need to meet that acerbic devil to know that I have to kill him..." the two blondes looked back to their plates as Sora rested his elbow on the table and put his hand over his eyes as he let out a heavy sigh.

"Hey? Are you okay?" Riku asked him as he turned his attention to the boy next to him.

"Not really...I'm not feeling very well today..." Roxas watched his Master and friend for a moment, taking note of his behavior.

"Nightmares?" In hind sight, he wondered if he should have asked the boy something like that.

"If I'm having any sort of nightmare, it's none of your business, so please keep the fuck out of it!" Sora looked to him from under his bangs, causing his normally gentle sky-blue eyes to turn icy and malicious.

Roxas kept quiet after that and spent the rest of breakfast avoiding eye contact with Sora at all costs. Despite his best efforts, Roxas knew that there were things that the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master wouldn't tell them or explain; however, he wanted to understand his friend better, and even possibly become a better ally to him and the others. Roxas left breakfast with a rather blank expression as he thought over Sora's reactions and personality that morning – he was quiet, but at the same time, he knew that Sora wasn't the easiest person to read; if anything, Sora was possibly the most complex and confusing person he'd ever met. Nonetheless, Roxas suspected he'd learn more about his friend as time went on.

As the day progressed, Roxas went about the castle exploring. His first stop had been a gallery of paintings in the east wing – they covered vast subjects from history to things of fantasy – however, he did pause at one singular painting. It was large and encompassing in size, covering most of the wall it was on. The painting was framed in black iron and detailed something that Roxas knew was terrifying. Ocean-blue eyes scanned the dark image of a battlefield while silhouettes appeared on different sides, and small shadows donned in colors of navy, violet-red, and grayish-white were scattered about in different areas while several other forms appeared. One was a side of black hooded figures, and the other, people bearing what seemed to be parts of light pieces of armor, and within their grasps were Keyblades. They were detailed out to the fullest extent, color and curves perfectly portrayed. Roxas felt his heart hammering in his chest as he looked at the scene for such a long time that he felt as if the images were moving and reenacting the moment that froze them within the image. All of these silhouettes were framed by a charred, bloodstained, cracked ground, and a blood-red, fire-lit sky that drew nothing more than fear from him as he continued to stare onward.

"The Keyblade War..." Roxas jumped and turned around to see Riku leaning against the wall across from him.

"W-What?" he asked as Riku sighed and started to walk towards him.

"About a century ago, there was a Keyblade War that broke out across the worlds. Keyblade Bearers and Masters fought with the darkness...it laid waste to an entire world and killed thousands of people, creatures, and Bearers..." Roxas felt his hands shake a bit as he continued to watch Riku and then turned his attention back to the painting.

"Then what happened?" he questioned.

"The Keyblade War destroyed so many people, and the worlds...which had once been connected, vanished..." Roxas looked down.

"Were the worlds really connected?" he asked him as Riku nodded.

"Yea, but it was a long time ago...according to the story...there was something that spread Darkness everywhere, and apparently...Xehanort had something to do with it..." the blonde boy glanced towards Riku out of the corner of his eyes.

"Um...Riku? I gotta ask...what happened to the Keyblade Masters and Bearers? You know...after the War?" Riku looked down.

"Sora knows about it...a man who's a good friend of ours named Squall Leonhart told him why, when we go to some worlds...Keyblade Wielders are treated so horribly..." he mentioned in passing as Roxas continued to look at the painting.

"I'm a little confused – I recognize the Heartless...but I don't know what the other things are...and what kind of Keyblades are those?" Riku looked down.

"Listen, Roxas...the history of Keyblade Bearers is really scrambled...we don't know the full extent of which the Keyblade's power reached back during that time...the only person who would know is Master Yen Sid, but if there's some kind of facts we're missing...he hasn't told us yet," Riku stated.

"But why?! We're Keyblade Wielders! Don't we have a right to know what happened back then and why things are so horrible now?" Riku sighed.

"Look, if we were meant to know...Master Yen Sid would have told us..." he explained while Roxas frowned.

"I don't like all these secrets...we're a team, aren't we?" Riku nodded to him.

"We are a team...but there are some things that we can't talk about yet because we're just..." ocean-blue eyes looked cyan.

"Care to explain that one to me?" Roxas inquired.

"Well...I know you learned about Sora's first adventure...but did you learn everything? Or just what Jiminy recorded?" the blonde looked down.

"I...learned a lot more than I thought I would...about you and Kairi...Sora as well...and it revolves around the Dream Drop thing you mentioned when we came here," he stated.

"Look, just give us some time – that happened in April...we need time to..." Roxas narrowed his eyes at the Keyblade Master.

"To what? Think of a suitable excuse to feed me and Namine so we don't learn some deep dark secret? We need to trust you guys, but you've made it almost impossible for us to do that because you just keep lying and..."

"Stop talking..." Roxas glowered at him.

"Riku! I'm not fucking joking! You need to listen to us and..." the silver-haired Keyblade Master shook his head.

"No, do you hear that?"

Roxas paused, and when he did, he heard it – music. It was light, tranquil, and gentle. The music was something he recognized as a piano, and it was mesmerizing in a haunting way; however, he didn't know where it was coming from. Riku looked to him and nodded before heading out of the gallery with him and towards the area where the sound was coming from. It was as they turned the corner into the castle's hallway that bore a music room at the end of it that they met up with Kairi, Namine, Donald, and Goofy, who were also drawn to the sound and had tracked it down to the music room. The group of six wandered down the hallway slowly, quietly, so not to draw attention to themselves and disrupt the person playing the music in the room. The closer they got; however, the more vibrant and warm the sound became.

It reminded them greatly of a lullaby – soft, peaceful, and lulling to the senses. Still, there was a tone under it that reminded them also of a requiem: a death song. The sound was easing, and at the same time highly unnerving in a manner that none of them could quite put their finger on. Kairi crept closer, with Namine, Riku, Roxas, Donald and Goofy close behind her, and noticed the door was open just enough for them to peer into the room. Kairi took in a steadying breath and went up to the door before freezing, and sequentially spooking the others.

"What is it? Kairi?" asked Goofy in a whisper.

"You're never going to believe this..."

Gently and slowly, Kairi pried the door further open and looked to the person settled at the piano. Without question, it wasn't who they were expecting; because while they would have guessed Queen Minnie, Lady Daisy, or perhaps King Mickey, they never anticipated none other than Sora to be sitting there, playing the piano as if it was a daily activity for him. The group felt their eyes widen, and some felt their mouths slightly open in surprise. Kairi felt a slight sense of discontent, only because Sora had never made a mentioning of it – though he clearly had been playing for quite a few years – however, she was more curious about the song he was playing.

It brought back a few memories from her childhood, and the one detail she nearly forgot: the strange man in her memories. She often associated him with Sora, and deducted from those thoughts that he was his father, but she felt as if something was wrong about the memory, only because she couldn't remember his face, or his voice, just sharp blue eyes – Sora's eyes. Despite that distant memory, Kairi did remember the song that he was playing.

It was as he got to another portion of the chorus of the song that Donald moved forward and bumped into them, causing them to careen forward and slam the door open as they hit the floor. The room went still; the music had stopped. The group of six slowly shook the sudden sense of vertigo from their systems and looked around before looking directly to Sora, who was crouched in front of them with his head tilted while he had his arms crossed over his legs as he remained crouched there for a moment. Roxas frowned as he looked at his friend and Master – taking note of the comfortable, relaxed clothing that consisted of a long-sleeve black, V-neck shirt, and navy loose-fitting cotton pants – the boy remained crouched, not truly curious so much as humored by their current state.

"Well...that was quite an entrance," Sora said with a smirk.

"Shut up, you sneaky little..." sky-blue eyes narrowed playfully.

"I don't know if I would be calling someone sneaky – considering what you six were up to..." he stood as they managed to get themselves to their feet and he stretched a bit while starting to walk over to the piano again, while Kairi took note that the boy was barefoot. Sora sat back down at the piano and looked to the group as he drew his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them with a tired sigh.

"What were you doing in here, anyways?" Namine asked.

"Passing time...I've had a bit of a headache today...so I was looking for an outlet to take my mind off it..." Riku frowned.

"And that was playing the piano?" he inquired. Sky-blue eyes looked down at the statement.

"Well...kind of..." Roxas gave him a bland look.

"You sound like you've been playing a long time," he pointed out.

"I have...I started playing when I was seven..." Kairi felt her eyes widen a bit.

"How did we not notice this for nine years?!" she asked him as he shrugged.

"I didn't tell anyone..." Donald and Goofy frowned as they looked the boy over.

"Gwarsh, Sora, I don't see why not – you're really good," he told him as Sora smiled a bit, laughing in a small manner.

"Thanks, Goofy...but...see...I never told anyone because of how I was picked on growing up...think about it – I'm pretty small for my age...and I'm smart, I've got a good memory...but if I had those kinds of qualities and had a gift for music, plus the medical side...I would be picked on for other reasons..." Namine bit her lip in thought.

"You don't seem like the kind of person people would pick on," she stated.

"Well, looks can be deceiving." Riku smirked as he looked to his friend.

"You're pretty good – what song was that?" Kairi moved a little closer to Sora and sat down next to him on the wide bench of the piano.

"That was Into the West, wasn't it? The song that man who used to come visit you would play?" the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master nodded slowly.

"Yea...my mom had the song, and I used it to play the music from the sheet she had. I've got it memorized nowadays, so I don't need the sheet anymore," he explained.

"And there's the spectacular memory you have kicking in again...how many songs do you have memorized?" Riku's comment had Sora rolling his eyes.

"Twenty-seven...those are just the entire ones, but there are a few others I'm still practicing with," the other said blandly.

"So...what's this week got for us? Are we going to do any work at all?" Sora glanced to the side for a moment as if he was thinking, and then nodded slowly.

"Yea, we'll do a little work with my last usable Drive Form, and we'll work with the illusion pins a little...but for the most part, we'll take a break and kind of slow down for a bit...but since we had to move the date around...we'll be going to see the Three Good Fairies at the end of the month," he said tiredly.

"Okay, then I guess we'll deal with that later..." Sora stretched again.

"Seems to me that you need a nap," Kairi said with a faint laugh as he gave her a tired look.

"Yea, that'd be nice...is it still raining?" the others nodded.

"Of course...well, I gotta get back to work, see ya later! Come on, Goofy," Donald said as he started to leave, and the Captain of the Knights smiled to them.

"Feel better, Sora..." he waved and followed Donald out, while Sora stood up, closed the covering for the keys on the piano, and grabbed Kairi's hand as she started towards the door.

"What did he mean by feel better?" asked Roxas, who had for the most part chosen to remain silent during the previous conversation – he played the guitar, but not many knew that unless you looked at the black acoustic one in the corner of his room – but now he found himself curious.

"Magical pressure illness...when the atmosphere changes, sometimes it makes me feel kind of sick..." Sora looked to the blonde, who frowned.

"Isn't that dangerous?" the Keyblade Master shook his head.

"No, it's not...just makes you feel really bad," he said.

"Oh..." Kairi tugged Sora's arm a bit.

"Sora, come on, let's get some rest..." she said.

"Okay, I'm coming..." with that, the red-haired Princess of Heart lead the Keyblade Master out of the room and down the hall. Roxas sighed and Namine looked to him.

"Come on, let's go find something to do for a bit, okay?" she said, while Riku laughed.

"See you two later."

Riku walked down the hallway and exited it before turning towards the stairwell that lead up to the Keyblade Wielder's hallway. It was still pouring rain, the clouds were rolling, dark gray, and thunder bellowed around them. Riku sighed and started towards the stairwell to go and relax for the rest of the day; however, as soon as he reached the top, he felt a sharp sting race through him, and his vision swam with darkness momentarily. Panic flared in him and Way to the Dawn appeared in his grasp as he tried to reason what was happening. Riku felt his heart clench and an ache develop in him as he crouched down to one knee and took in a few deep breaths before looking around as he slowly stood and started towards his room.

It wasn't a moment after he shut the door behind him that Riku slid down the door and took in a series of rough breaths, while his Keyblade clanged to the ground. He wanted to panic, and for a brief moment he wanted to rush to where Kairi and Sora were; however, he felt as if this wasn't something they could help with – it was a Dream Eater issue. A sharp pain developed in his shoulders, and he gritted his teeth against it as a sudden ripping sensation came through him, and he hissed as he dug his nails in against the floors, which had lengthened a bit and carved grooves into the hardwood. Riku took in a deep breath and crouched over a bit before he felt a sharp, tense pain in his shoulders and then something moved outward. Cyan eyes glanced back and momentarily paused as he looked at the sight of two bat-like, blackish-blue wings that were stretching out from his shoulders. Faintly surprised, Riku stood and went directly to the mirror in his room in the closet and looked into it.

The wings started off as an inky black at the tops and slowly faded from there to midnight blue, then sapphire, and slowly got lighter until they were completely sky-blue and then bled into white at the very tips of the wings. Riku took the sight in and tried to think about moving them – still in shock at what he was seeing, despite his efforts – and they responded as if it had been a natural ability of his since he was born. The silver-haired Keyblade Master took in a steady breath and looked at the reflection once again.

"Well...I wasn't expecting that..."

 **{….}**

 _I'll be right here now, to hold you when the sky falls down. I will always..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: I'm back! Sorry guys, I had a few family things come up, and then writer's block reared its ugly head. However, now I'm back, and going to be giving out a series of updates during the week – in addition to the weekend updates – to make up for the last two weeks.

Sorry, but no worries; we'll get caught up in no time!

Preview:

"Hey? Can you tell me about your Mark of Mastery exam?"

"Stay back!"

"What's going on?"

"Sora, come back to me...it's alright..."

Chapter 12: Better Left Unsaid


	12. Chapter 12: Better Left Unsaid

Chapter 12: Better Left Unsaid

 **{Disney Castle: September 28th 2013, 9:45am}**

As it had been for the last two days, the rain fell from a gun-metal-gray sky, and the ocean at the north end of the castle crashed in a series of black waves, while the ground remained slightly flooded, the wind sharp, and the rain chilly despite the summer temperature. The residents of the castle were in a blend of awake and asleep, due to the dreary deluge. Goofy was polishing the shields and armor in the Knight's quarters, Donald was blending potions and stocking up on supplies if ever they needed specific medical elixirs and was taking note of a recipe he'd received from Master Yen Sid recently that he was testing out, while in the main study, King Mickey wrote letters, replied to messages, and filed away reports while conducting his own, while Pluto remained curled up near the fireplace.

Brooms, mops, and feather dusters went about the castle cleaning, often seeking out their favorite prey – Keyblade Wielders. Queen Minnie was tending to an activity of sewing alongside Daisy to preoccupy themselves, and upstairs in the higher half of the castle where the Keyblade Bearers resided, it was quiet. Riku had been up since eight that morning and was reading through a book he had gotten from Merlin the Blue Wizard to attend to the sudden growth of appendages he had gotten – thankfully, he had learned how to close them away – and was spending his time accompanied by a few soot sprites, who decided they wanted to watch the rain as it pelted the glass and normally white stone walls of the castle.

Namine had been up for a bit by then, she had been painting the stormy swirl of the sky and sea from her window and heard only the rain and the silence around her that, while it was peaceful, was also very lonely. It was with Roxas that silence reigned as he slept through the rainfall, enjoying the peace and quiet and his opportunity to sleep in for once in a while. However, the silence was maddening for Sora, who was wide awake after having woken up from a less than pleasant nightmare prior to sunrise. He remained quiet, curled up with his knees pulled almost to his chest with his arms folded atop them and his head resting on them. He was tired but didn't want to sleep; he was weary and worn down by the nightmare, but he honestly didn't wish to talk about it. The castle had remained quiet and peaceful, he noted – not that he was complaining – however, it wasn't peaceful to him.

A sudden movement near his side caught his attention, and he took in a steadying but shaky breath as he remembered that Kairi was there, sleeping beside him, and that she was safe and nothing was happening – it was just a dream. Thunder rolled, lightning flared, and the rain came down harder, causing him to tense, a faint whine of discontent come from him as he stared wide-eyed at the flash of light in the dark sky and sighed as he tried to think of what could calm him down. It was as he started to feel encroaching panic tightening its grasp upon his throat that a hand reached out and touched him gently. Sky-blue eyes, glassy and almost unseeing, looked into aquamarine.

"Sora?" Kairi asked him as he stared at her.

"K-Kairi! Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up..." he was stuttering, and his body shook visibly.

"You're shaking, are you okay?" she questioned the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master as she came closer and pulled him into her arms before threading her fingers through his hair.

"Fine, just got a little startled by the thunder, is all..." his voice didn't fumble; however, his body still shook as if he were cold.

"You're not okay, I know it. You're trembling...what's wrong?" Kairi had to ask, because if she didn't ask, nothing could fix what had been done.

"Kairi, I promise...I'm okay...just tired..." she bit her lip, but decided not to push him.

"Okay, just take a deep breath. If you need to, we can skip the illusion pins today, a little longer without training won't hurt us," Kairi suggested this, but she knew what his answer would be.

"We can't take too many breaks. Kairi, Xehanort is getting stronger every day! If we're not ready to fight...he'll destroy us and everything we..." Kairi moved forward, intertwining her fingers with his own and placing a gentle kiss to his slightly quivering lips. He was scared, she could tell that, but he was also on the brink of something that she wanted so greatly to pull him back from.

"I'm right here, right now, so pay some attention to me until you feel better, okay?" she stated as he slowly, almost timidly, moved closer and kissed her back before wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Kairi..." he muttered her name and she sighed, feeling a bit of sorrow as she considered what was happening to him again.

She kissed him and he returned it, hands gently grasping her shoulders before moving, toppling them and causing her to land on her back upon the bed as he leaned over her and placed a chaste kiss to her lips before moving down to her jaw and then her throat, where once again a series of small bites were left. Kairi reached up, brushing her fingers through his hair before sky-blue eyes looked up to her. His eyes were glassy, misty, and had a far-off look to them, and Kairi knew that meant one thing...

 _Sora was going into a relapse._

 _And this one was going to be worse than the ones before it._

But she couldn't pull him out of it this time like she had every other time. Therefore, she wrapped her arms around him, pulled him closer, and kissed him back, knowing that this time, she may not be able to call him back alone – they would all have to bring him back. Sora was teetering on the edge of collapse, and they were the only thing holding him to the ground, and she knew then and there that once she had Sora settled down just enough to where he wasn't as unresponsive – seeing him acting like a soulless doll did nothing but chill her blood and freeze her bones – she would need to speak to Riku.

"Sora? Can you hold me for a bit?" Kairi asked as he moved closer and wrapped his arms around her before nuzzling her throat in a gentle manner as she reached up and tangled her fingers into his hair.

Kairi wanted badly to pull him from whatever type of state of mind he had fallen into, but she knew that when this happened, she couldn't stop it – only be there when he caved. Sora slid his lips up her jaw and gave her a faint kiss to her lips before snuggling close to her as he leaned down and rested his head over her heart before closing his eyes and looked slightly towards her.

"I know you're worried about me, Kairi...it's okay..." she bit her lip, keeping her fingers tangled in the soft chestnut strands of Sora's hair.

"You're not okay," she stated as she looked to him.

"Kairi...really...it's just one of those days, I guess..." his eyes were glassy and dark circles were evident under them against pale skin.

"He's exhausted...I wish I could help him overcome this..."

"Sora...please, just take a break for today," she said as he leaned forward, her fingers coming loose from his hair to rest against his cheek.

"We have to be ready, Kairi, Xehanort isn't going to wait forever...I don't want to lose anyone..." she smiled and leaned up as Sora sat back as she moved until she was in his lap, and he looked down to her as Kairi rested her head against his chest and knotted her fingers in his shirt.

"You need to recover first...Sora...I need you to _stay together_ for me, okay?" he rested his head atop hers as his arms wrapped around her.

"I'll be okay...give me time..." she sighed.

"Okay, just...if you start feeling off, come back here, and I'll be right behind you," Kairi told him.

"I will...if I can..."

 **{Training Hall: 11:03am}**

Roxas and Namine had noticed something incredibly wrong with Sora today in training when the boy split them up into groups and watched from the side lines. Kairi and Namine had been paired up to do a few sparring sessions, and Sora was giving them cues for magic spells or when to use shield or guard themselves, while Riku was stuck with Roxas, sparring and giving him a thorough work-over for him to get a better handle on Two Across. It seemed like a relatively normal day for most of them; however, none of them could shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. Namine had sensed it that morning during breakfast when Kairi and Sora weren't present, and Riku had been oddly tense most of the time until they'd seen the two of them walking towards the training hall.

For the time being, they were rather calm about the entire situation; however, Riku had the deepest sensation in the pit of his stomach that something was horribly wrong. Knowing that, though, how could he pinpoint what was happening? How could he even potentially brace Roxas and Namine for what they could very possibly see? Taking in a deep breath, Riku steeled himself and focused on the task in front of him – which meant keeping his attention on Roxas, who was wielding a Keyblade he didn't know the full power of yet and hope that the boy didn't accidentally bring down the training hall. It was as their training progressed and Sora pointed out a few techniques to the girls that Riku felt a spike of panic in his body when he met eyes with Sora.

He looked unnerved and highly agitated for an unknown reason. Sky-colored eyes turned away from him and back to the girls, who nodded before taking to their lesson again, while Roxas went about his sparring session with the silver-haired Keyblade Master.

Sora remained silent, but Kairi kept an eye on him until he resumed acting for the most part normal, and she dropped her guard, and resorted to firing a few ice-spells alongside the Aquri water spells to throw Namine off-balance. The blonde-haired girl rebutted her attacks with ice and heated water spells, while Sora directed them when to use guards to block or send the spells back with the Keyblade. Over on another part of the training hall, Roxas was striking at Riku with a series of coordinated and clumsy hits and attack patterns that concerned the silver-haired teen a bit. The boy seemed tense and unused to working with him; which, he did understand.

Normally Roxas paired with Sora, and the boy had excelled with his Master in movement, and was slowly getting a grasp upon spells; however, around Riku, he was anxious and unsure of where their styles differed, but was putting forth a great deal of effort. Cyan eyes looked the boy over as he dodged an attack, and then blocked it and parried while trying to organize his thoughts and focus on what Sora had taught him. Riku took pity on Roxas only because he knew it took quite a bit of trial and error before one could pinpoint differences in technique and battle styles; plus, they hadn't gotten to that portion of their training, nor the use of Flowmotion, summons during combat, and most importantly: _Limit Breaks._

A Limit Break, in many ways, was a Keyblade Wielder's most basic requirement, in the sense that it allowed the wielder to utilize their powers to their biggest potential, and in addition, the abilities of their partner when using a joined Limit Break. Riku looked to Sora out of the corner of his eyes, and momentarily questioned when they would teach them each how to unlock their own Limit Breaks and adapt it to combat alongside Flowmotion, summons, magic, and teach them how to transition from one combatant to another. Riku was also beginning to wonder when Sora would choose to show Roxas and Namine their own Limit Breaks.

Riku took a moment to think back to when Sora and himself were learning their Limits, and how they applied them to their jointed Limit Break known as Eternal Sessions. It had been grueling and exhaustive to the point that they typically had just enough energy to crawl their way up the staircase and into their beds; however, the first time they'd practiced each portion of the ability, Sora had drawn an amazing attack on the illusion pins and developed a piece of the Limit that wasn't originally part of the connective Limits: Thirteen Blades. The white and golden clock-hand-looking blades were swift, and appeared almost like a ray of light in the form of a flower before they spread out like petals and rotated around the boy in a matter that left most if not all attacks decimated. It was impressive, but it wasn't all that had come from those trials before the events of the Dream Drop.

Sora had developed and perfected his Limit, they'd for the most part mastered their summons, and had learned Flowmotion – that had been a painful series of crashing into walls and being flung through the air – before the day came where almost all of their training, right down to Sora learning how to dual wield, and Riku himself mastering summons and magic, finally came, and was put to the test. He remembered that moment because he had been thanking their stubbornness and willingness to continue trying despite the pain, bruises, and scrapes, and that it had all ultimately paid off with them walking away with their lives.

 _"Seems so long ago that we were three kids trying to leave our world with a hand-made raft, supplies, and nothing but our trust in one another and our ingenuity to guide us...now look at where we are...Keyblade Masters, teaching others, and saving lives while protecting the light in the worlds...who would have thought we'd amount to this so fast?"_ Riku thought as he turned his attention back to the Keyblade Wielder in training.

"Come on! Your tiring yourself out! Start using your magic, Roxas!" he said as the blonde nodded and shot a blizzard spell out at him.

"Freeze!" Riku blocked it with reflect and frowned.

"Try something harder! Sora hasn't wasted his time on you with personal training with Two Across to have this pathetic attempt to attack and defend come up!" he stated. Roxas narrowed his eyes.

"IGNIS!"

A sharp burst of flames came from the boy's Keyblade, and Riku was quick to block the vast dispursement of fire with a strong blizzard spell. The second the two spells hit, steam erupted, and the others turned to look at the scene of the vast amount of steam before Riku stumbled back as Roxas used the steam as a screen for him to strike. The Keyblade Master was momentarily taken by surprise as he fell backwards, and the sudden sound of glass breaking caught their attention as Riku felt the glass shatter and a sharp pain emit from his arms and forehead. Everyone seemed to freeze before running forward while Roxas momentarily blanked as he vanished his Keyblade, and ran forward as Sora, Kairi, and Namine came to them.

"What happened? Are you okay?" asked Kairi as she looked to Riku, who hissed a bit as broken glass bit into his hands. Riku glanced up faintly, taking in the faintly spooked look of Sora's eyes as he glanced between the shattered window and Roxas, who smelled a bit heavily of smoke from the fire spell he'd used. However, he chose not to panic about it for the time being and focused on trying to remain calm and diffuse the situation.

"Yea, he just took me by surprise." Roxas stared at him with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..." Sora shook his head as he crouched towards Riku.

"Don't apologize for using an advantage. That's something that'll save you during a battle," he told him as he turned his attention back towards his friend.

"Sora's right, that was very clever of you, Roxas – it means you're learning." Riku looked to Sora and the boy offered his hand before the silver-haired Keyblade Master smiled as he looked him over.

"Come on, you clumsy giant, let me help you up," Sora stated.

"I told you, I'm okay. See...I..." he held up his hand, dripping with blood, and sky-blue eyes looked him over as if he hadn't been aware of the cuts across his friends arms and the small scrape across his cheek and forehead. While Riku had expected a snarky comeback or possibly even a light-hearted joke, he received something different. Sora's eyes grew wide, his skin blanched, and his pupils dilated as he started to move backwards, and panic flared within him.

"Fuck! This can't be happening!" Riku thought as he watched Sora look to him in a manner that spoke volumes of what was happening and how horrible it was about to get. Sora was starting to relapse, and Riku had just made a critical mistake.

"Sora?" the boy's eyes darted around, taking in the glass, the sound clearly repeating in his ears as he looked at the blood on the floor, and then turned his gaze back to Riku.

"Hey? Are you alright? Sora? Come on, answer me," said Riku as he watched the boy.

"What's wrong with him?" cyan eyes looked the boy over, and he moved forward, the sound of shattered glass making an almost metallic clink across the floor as he did so. The boy tensed, body shaking slightly as he moved backwards a bit for every motion Riku took forward.

"Sora, come on. You're fine," Riku stated as he reached out, and then grabbed the boy by the wrist. Sora jolted, and a faint snap was heard as the boy jumped away and blood slid down the corner of his mouth faintly where he'd bitten into his lip from the scare he'd given himself.

"You're bleeding..." Kairi went to help him, but the boy moved away, jerking his arm to try, and get free of Riku's grasp.

"Sora...it's okay! Don't worry," Riku said as he stood, and the boy struggled, standing with him as Roxas and Namine stared onward in great confusion as panic appeared on the boy's face, and his eyes grew wide as Kairi stepped back while Riku tried to keep him still.

"What's happening?" asked Namine.

"Just stay away...let me deal with this..." Riku looked to Sora and grabbed him by his shoulders, blood smearing his upper arm as the boy continued struggling.

"Sora!" the boy jolted, eyes glancing towards Kairi and then back towards Riku.

"L-Let...go..."

His voice sounded faintly frantic, but Riku refused – he couldn't let him run off and go where he couldn't help him, and he knew that Sora would do that. However, when he tried to take a step forward, Sora jolted and tried to move back swiftly, and Riku stepped on a large shard of glass, causing him to trip and land atop Sora, who continued to try and wriggle free from his grasp. Seeing no other resolution, Riku grabbed the boy's other arm and pinned them above his head, hoping to prevent the boy from struggling further and talking some sense into him before the relapse got worse. That ended when the boy screamed and began to struggle – kicking and writhing to get free from Riku's grasp as Kairi, Namine, and Roxas tried to help keep the boy still as Riku did his best to bring the boy back to his senses.

"Sora! You have to wake up! Sora?!"

That was the end of their attempt to get the boy to calm down.

An intense heat began to radiate through the boy's body, and it forced them to remove their hands from him as he moved forward, head-butted Riku, and swiftly got to his feet, Valor Form taking over and fire radiating from his very being like a wave from an open hearth. The red clothing of the Drive wasn't present, but all the energy was there around him in a manner that looked threatening and striking as Sora looked to Riku, the flames dying down, as he back-stepped and ran as swiftly as he could from the room, leaving the four of them behind with a mixture of worry, fear, confusion, and guilt.

"What...just happened?" asked Namine, a blend of concern and anxiety in her tone.

"I think we need to explain something to the two of you, but first..." Kairi nodded her head.

"We need to find Sora," she said as she started for the door.

"R-Right...we..." Roxas felt a knot form in his throat.

"I know where he is..." Riku walked out beside Kairi, and the other two followed and contemplated what they'd just seen.

It had taken them ten minutes to get to their wing in the castle, and an additional hour to convince Sora to let Riku into the room with him – it ultimately resulted in Riku opening the door with his Keyblade – and now another hour and a half of shouts and hellish sounding screams with Roxas, Namine, and Kairi waiting out in the hallway for any progress to be made with Sora. Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey had come up, and King Mickey was currently in the room with Riku and Sora; however, the two blondes had the distinct feeling that everyone but them knew what had happened to their Master. Sora had snapped, he'd gone from being relatively calm to near full-blown hysteria in a matter of minutes, but it wasn't over, and judging by the screams that they were still hearing, it wouldn't be for quite some time.

Roxas was still trying to piece together what had happened and why Sora had gone into the state he had, but he knew it was serious, and clearly something that everyone was aware of. Did he have something wrong with him? Was he just exhausted? Or was it something much more complex than just a simple state of something setting him off? Why did it feel so frightening? Cold? Why did it feel as if he was looking at someone else entirely when Sora had gone off the deep end and went nearly wild, despite Riku's best efforts to calm him.

Namine was thinking something along the same lines when the door to Sora's room opened, and King Mickey and Riku walked out before looking to the others who were awaiting their word. They hadn't noticed it before, but everything had gone quiet, and that set both the blondes on edge as they stepped back, not wanting to intrude while Kairi came forward, fear and concern evident as she looked to Riku, who took in a deep breath and looked down – showing a series of rather nasty looking scratches along his arms and left cheek that was joined by a busted lip. Sighing, once again, cyan eyes focused on Kairi and then to King Mickey, who gave them both a pitied look before he nodded.

"He's asking for you, Kairi; go on..." the girl nodded and walked past Riku as he stepped aside, and Roxas and Namine got the faint sight of Sora curled up at the headboard of the bed and Kairi coming towards him, while the boy kept dead, soulless eyes on the floor with an expression of clear terror and trauma in them.

"All of you, please follow me down to my study; I think we need to have a conversation about what's just transpired," King Mickey stated as he looked to everyone, who very slowly nodded.

"What about Kairi?" Riku said nothing, but the King spoke up.

"Right now, Roxas, Sora needs her more," he explained while the blonde boy nodded a bit numbly while the King began walking.

"Please, follow me..."

As they walked, none of them said a word, and silence began to weigh as much as the world while Roxas and Namine read the cues that everyone gave off: don't speak until everyone was in the study, and don't ask to much once they began to explain. They listened and said nothing.

 **{The King's Study: 4:15pm}**

King Mickey waited for everyone to be settled comfortably by the fireplace in chairs or on the sofa as he paced the area between the two chairs, and Riku stood off to the side near the window. Roxas and Namine felt as if they were intruding upon a moment that shouldn't have been explained; however, they knew it was time for some of their answers to be had. Looking to Riku, the silver-haired Keyblade Master turned his gaze from them and towards the window, while the King continued pacing and Donald and Goofy hung back near them, while Roxas, and Namine took the sofa for themselves. They felt the desire to remain close to one another, because learning what they were about to, they knew, would change the dynamics of their relationship with not only the others, but Sora, forever.

Finally, King Mickey stopped pacing and looked to Riku, who sighed and shifted his position slightly while Donald frowned and moved forward before pointing towards the chair to the left of them, to which Riku looked down in defeat and came to sit down in the chair while Donald set to cleaning up the wounds on his arms and hands before tending to the scrapes across his cheek and arms – and what suspiciously looked like teeth marks on his shoulder – before the King shook his head and Roxas swallowed around the lump in his throat.

"Your...Majesty...what happened?" asked Namine as she steeled herself.

"Listen, I don't want you asking Sora about it..." they nodded slowly.

"Okay...but please...tell us what..." the girl was cut off.

"Sora had a relapse..." ocean and pale sapphire-blue eyes looked to Riku.

"A relapse?" asked Roxas.

"Yes..." Riku looked down and then flinched when Donald finished getting the glass out of his palm.

"Why would he have a relapse?" inquired Namine.

"You see...Sora has post-traumatic stress disorder, and what you just saw...that was a relapse because of it..." the two blondes seemed to almost shrink into themselves.

"How?" King Mickey looked to them.

"You both were told about something before you arrived here...it was an event that none of us speak of much, and Sora personally doesn't speak about nearly ever..." the two blondes thought for a moment, and then Roxas felt his body tense.

"The Dream Drop..." the King looked down.

"Yes, Sora died during that. I'm certain you were told about that...and unfortunately and fortunately, he doesn't remember a great deal of what happened..." the two blondes looked down.

"So how...does he have post-traumatic stress disorder if he doesn't remember?" asked Namine.

"Because...his body remembers all of it...and triggers are quite a dangerous thing to someone with amnesia due to a traumatic event..." Roxas felt ill at the notion.

"The Fire spell, and the glass breaking...he was nervous when he was coming towards Riku to make sure he was okay," he stated.

"And he panicked when I reached out to him and had blood on my hands..." Riku winced again as Donald gave him a frown and looked to the sight of the scratches and the one mark on his shoulder.

"What happened here, anyways? You look like an angry cat got a hold of you," stated Donald.

"No, it wasn't an angry cat. I tried to calm Sora down, and he attacked me when I grabbed him. I guess it was just instinct, but he scratched me up pretty good..." Namine winced.

"Sora's nails are blunt, aren't they?" she inquired.

"Yep, so guess how hard of a grip he had on me...not to mention..." Roxas looked down.

"Did he bite you?" Riku looked to his upper arm near his shoulder.

"Yea...I wasn't expecting that one, honestly..." cyan eyes looked down.

"So...what can we do? To help him?" Riku sighed.

"Not be as oblivious to these triggers. I made several mistakes this time – I showed him my bloodied hands, I held him down, I caused him to bite his lip and get the taste of blood in his mouth, and with all that including his sound sensory from the glass breaking and the smell of fire...he couldn't get loose, and I told him _he had to wake up,_ " he explained.

"How did saying that to him trigger something?" the Keyblade Master gave them a clearly disappointed look; however, it wasn't disappointment in them, but in himself.

"Those words were the things I said to him when he attacked us because he couldn't remember who we were and was going on instinct to survive...it triggered a memory," Riku stated as he glanced towards them.

"But why would him being held down bring up a memory as a trigger?" Donald tensed at Riku's side, and Goofy glanced down in concern.

"Donald? Goofy? Is something wrong?" asked King Mickey.

"It's just...I get the feeling that the memory that action triggered wasn't from the Dream Drop..." the others tensed as well.

"When was it from, then?" inquired Riku.

"It's from Castle Oblivion...when one of the Organization members – I think Marluxia is his name – tried to do something to Sora...I don't think he outright remembers it, though, so please...don't mention it...not to Sora..." Riku nodded slowly.

"I won't, besides...right now, Sora needs to recover from the relapse...and we need to be wary for a bit and not bring up any more things that could cause him pain," he stated.

"Why not go into town for the day? We've never been..." Riku looked to King Mickey, who smiled at Roxas and Namine.

"That would be a good idea. I'm sure once he's feeling better, it'll be a nice reprieve from training, and that reminds me..." the two blondes looked to the King.

"What?" King Mickey smiled.

"I believe you have an appointment with Master Yen Sid in four days. He's postponed it in favor of your training, but I believe a visit to him and the Good Fairies would be best," he said.

"Right...we haven't done that yet..." Riku looked to them as Donald finished up with treating his wounds and used a cure spell to deal with most of the deeper ones.

"Then I will let him know you are intending on coming, then..." With that, King Mickey allowed them to leave, and the three Keyblade Wielders walked out of the study and down the hallway, but in silence, only because they had learned something important today...

Never judge someone just by their outer appearance. Because one day, you would see exactly how damaged they were on the inside...

 _"What was that saying? Those who smile the brightest are the saddest, those who are the kindest are the loneliest, and those who are the wisest are the most damaged? I guess it's true...even heroes have wounds that don't heal...not completely..."_

 **{….}**

 _Be the One who took your place. When the rain falls..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: This is quite a heavy chapter. There are so many things that Roxas and Namine learned, and much more that they still have to learn. I hope everyone likes this update. We are 3 chapters away from the completion of this story. Now, please, let me know what you guys think!

Preview:

"Thinking about Sora?"

"Alright, we're done for today...well...almost..."

"I see...so...we're almost out of time..."

Chapter 13: Master


	13. Chapter 13: Master

Chapter 13: Master

 **{Disney Castle: Dining Room: September 30th 2013, 9:45am}**

Being around Sora since his relapse had proven to be quite difficult for the others. While Riku and Kairi were able to face the brunt of the following days since then, Roxas and Namine were an entirely different story. Neither of the blondes had any history with people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and they had never seen someone go through a relapse before. Now, both of them had seen the damage done to Sora from the event known as the Dream Drop, and while some answers had been given, Roxas still wondered if there was more to the story or not. However, Roxas also found himself unable to make eye contact with his Master, and even had to prevent himself from speaking in fear that he'd trigger something else within the chestnut-haired teenager.

"Roxas?" a voice caught his attention, and he looked to see Riku watching him.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry...I was..." Kairi gave him a concerned look.

"Thinking about Sora?" she asked. He looked down.

"I'm sorry, but..." Riku sighed.

"Listen, Sora, he's stronger than you think he is, and the things you're worried about? Don't be. He'll be fine..." he stated as Roxas and Namine looked towards him.

"That was probably one of the most terrifying things I've seen..." Kairi looked down.

"It's hard, but Sora's okay. Don't be so quiet around him – it makes him uncomfortable," she said.

"Oh..."

Roxas, and Namine both had hardly said a word to Sora over the course of the last two days; however, they were resuming their training today, and tomorrow they were going to the Mysterious Tower to speak with Master Yen Sid and see the Three Good Fairies for clothing that would hold up in a fight and be easier for them to wear during times in the field. Knowing that was coming up, most of them were a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Riku hadn't ever met the Three Good Fairies, but Sora had met them briefly during his first adventure just before he'd left for Hollow Bastion and the final fight against the Seeker of Darkness, and he had liked them, and they were quite helpful when they weren't almost comically quarreling between themselves.

As the two blondes thought about the upcoming events, the door to the dining room opened, and Sora came in and sat down next to Kairi before she smiled and kissed his cheek as he took her hand and intertwined their fingers. Sora seemed to be better than he was yesterday, and that was a relieving thought. Seeing the boy quiet, pale, and clearly shaken was unnerving to the point that it made Roxas and Namine both feel ill every time they thought about it. However, they also knew that the time of quiet and rest was over, and training was returning now.

"Good to see you up, and about," Riku stated as he looked to Sora.

"Yea...I guess I just needed a little bit more time..." Kairi sighed as she leaned up against him.

"Sora? Are you sure you're up for the session today?" she inquired. He nodded slowly, giving her an assuring look.

"We've finally made it to the last Drive Form I can use, so we won't be doing much today except a short sparring session to show you what it's capable of." Hearing those words seemed to satisfy her to an extent, and she nodded before reaching up to place a soft kiss to his lips.

"Alright, but if you start feeling strange or sick, you'd better stop, or I'll have the brooms come after you," she told him.

"I know, Kairi; I promise I'll keep tabs on how I'm feeling during this." she nodded again.

"Okay, then I'll trust you to do what you say you will," Kairi told him as she resumed leaning against him.

"The two of you are too perfect for each other..." sky-blue and aquamarine eyes looked to Riku.

"What's that supposed to mean?" they asked. Riku laughed as he looked to the two of them.

"Because no matter what, the two of you seem so calm around one another. If either one of you panics, only the two of you can calm each other down. You balance one another...believe me...the two of you were meant to be by each other's side no matter what."

"Are you trying to be philosophical, _frost giant?_ " Riku gave Sora a long look.

"Oh, look, I have proof magical creatures do exist! I've discovered _a hobbit!"_ he said.

"And I can prove that brain cells die every time a ludicrous word leaves a person's mouth..."

"Then you shouldn't have any left."

"Really? Hmm...I guess my sanity went running for the hills while screaming into the night when you showed up and decided to try and outwit me."

"Cute, but I think I can come up with a better insult than that," Riku said.

"Funny, because I think you need some severe help with that..." sky-blue and cyan looked each other over.

"How so?" Sora began messing with a strand of his hair.

"Well, duct tape can't fix everything, but it can muffle noises."

"Don't you need that to tape books to your feet so you can be taller?" a bland expression came to Sora's face.

"We have a library in the castle, and books aren't meant for being used for such purposes," he stated.

"Then what are they for?" Sora glanced to the side.

"Well, books are the greatest weapons in the world...case in point..." Sora pulled a book from nowhere and tossed it to Riku with such speed that it bounced off the silver-haired Keyblade Master's head.

"Um...he didn't have that book with him when he came in," said Namine.

"That is what you call a summon..." muttered Riku as he rubbed the area where a red A mark had been left on his forehead from the book The Scarlet Letter.

"Why did you summon that book? I thought you hated it?" Sora looked to the book as Kairi handed it back to him.

"Oh, I do...but let it never be said that a book that is disliked cannot be put to good use," he said.

"I'll keep that in mind..."

 **{Training Hall: 10:30am}**

The five of them were gathered in the training hall that day, spending most of their time going through a few drills while Sora maneuvered about going through the paces with them as the three student Keyblade Wielders fought each other, with Riku and Sora giving out pointers here and there to narrow in on what they knew and what needed to be worked on. Admittedly, Roxas, Namine, and even Kairi were well aware that the reason the two Masters were sending them through drills was due to Sora's fear that Xehanort would soon strike against them, and they needed to be ready for the moment it happened.

Sora was focused, giving out points that allowed for close-range attacks that would deal significant damage due to the close-quarters style of his own fighting – something Roxas was quite good with – and Riku focused on distance strikes and surprise advantages, which aided the girls. Despite that, though, the sparring session was fast-paced, constantly changing direction, and never-ending. Roxas had thought that their earlier training had been rough, but this one seemed much more intense, and it honestly spooked him a bit. The fact that they were pushing them further than they usually did meant that something was on both their minds, and either they had been told something that wasn't being said or they were following their instincts, and the feeling they got was something bad.

Roxas decided he didn't want to delve into it too much, despite that he, too, had a nagging feeling that time was running out and they were coming down to the wire. Sora glanced towards him and smirked as he summoned Oblivion into his grasp and jumped forward to strike at them with a broad swing. The midnight blue energy that wafted off of the black Keyblade had several of them startled and reacting with guarding themselves, or using magic to force back the energy. Riku jumped in not a minute later, and the trio ended up going toe-to-toe with the two Masters as the sparring session with directives became an all-out battle for their lives.

It was as Roxas went to deal a defeating blow to Sora that he was jolted backwards by a shock of electricity. The Keyblade Master held Oblivion outwards, and the others stared onward in shock as the chestnut-haired sixteen-year-old propelled himself forward while summoning another Keyblade – Oathkeeper. The Keyblades had been seen a few times before; however, Roxas had never seen both of them coming at him, and a strike was dealt to him which caused Two Across to fall from his grasp and his body to be slung across the area before colliding with the floor. Moments later, he was sitting up, dazed slightly and in evident pain as he looked to Sora, who rotated both Keyblades and looked to him in questioning.

"I'm done!" Namine said as Kairi nodded and hit the floor beside her sister. Riku put his Keyblade to his side, and Sora followed with Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

"I guess stopping for now would be a good idea...we put the three of you through the ringer..." Roxas managed to crawl his way over to the two girls and lay flat upon the ground as he heaved out an exhausted sigh.

"No more...please... _I give_..." he said as he looked to Sora and Riku.

"Alright, we're done for today...well...almost..." the trio looked up as Roxas managed to get himself up into a sitting position.

"A-Almost?!" exclaimed Roxas as he looked to Sora.

"Yea, Riku's going to show you what my last Drive Form can do." The silver-haired Keyblade Master looked to his friend.

"Why do I get the feeling that we're going to be wishing for you to skip this?" Riku asked.

"You won't...I'm not going to do much with it – I'm still practicing control with it..." the other Master nodded numbly as he looked into Sora's sky-blue eyes and saw faint concern there.

"Okay...but...first...are you okay?" the other nodded.

"I've never used it in combat before, so...we won't be in it for more than a few minutes," Sora told him.

"Then let's take a look!" the chestnut-haired sixteen-year-old looked to Riku.

"Okay..."

Sora stood in front of Riku while Roxas, Namine, and Kairi were off to the side and away from the duo as they prepared to do a short session of training with Sora's last Drive Form: Master Form. None of them had seen it, nor had they heard much about it, except that he had been given it by King Mickey before the Mark of Mastery exam. Knowing that, Riku did wonder why he hadn't used it, but supposed it was for the same reasons that up until now he hadn't practiced with it around them: control.

Taking that into account, Riku braced for impact, and not a second later, an electrical charge filled the air as Sora activated the Drive Form, and a sharp yellow, black and white trimmed clothing change appeared. Sora's attire was yellow in base but had black details with white trim on some areas, and that appeared in scattered bunches across the bottom of his pants leg and the ends of his sleeves.

The group gaped as electricity sparked around him, and he held one Keyblade up, rotating his wrist just so to move the yellow-gleaming weapon in front of him. Riku took instant note that the telekinetic ability was flawless and graceful as Sora took one step forward, and was gone in a flash before he jumped forward and struck at Riku with the free-floating Keyblade of Oathkeeper. Taking in a deep breath, Riku fought back, but found electricity humming around the other boy as he let loose a sharp strike of magic in the spell known as Thunder and he was thrown back, only for Sora to appear behind him and knock him back with a sharp smack from both Keyblades. Riku skidded across the ground and landed in a crouch before looking to Sora, who stood still.

"What the hell is that?!" asked Riku.

"Master Form. It's based on the element of Thunder or electricity..." Kairi stood up slowly before looking to Sora, who smiled brightly as she looked the yellow Drive Form over.

"That's really amazing," she said as Roxas and Namine came over to them.

"It was over in just a minute! That's impressive..." Riku smiled as he looked to Sora, who frowned.

"Neat moves there, _sparky_ ," he said.

"Laugh it up, I have more than enough electrical power here to make a _Pikachu_ green with envy." Riku nodded.

"Yea, I felt that...anyways, I think we'll need practice with Master Form in order to get the patterns down – we've done pretty well with Limit, Wisdom, and Valor," he stated. Sora sighed and then smiled as he held his hand out just enough to where the free floating Keyblade remained.

"And your telekinesis has gotten pretty good." Sora looked to the Keyblade.

"Yea, remember in Twilight Town how I was only able to levitate a teaspoon? This is from practicing with the objects in my room," Sora answered as he vanished the Keyblades, and then his Drive Form dissipated.

"I remember; so, how about we just relax for the rest of the day?" the others nodded.

"Let's go to Disney Town, Roxas and Namine have never been," Kairi stated.

"Sounds good to me, you two ready to go?" they nodded, and started to head for the doors, unaware that somebody was watching them through the doorway on the other side of the area.

 **{King's Study: 1:05pm}**

King Mickey sighed as he looked at the retreating figures of the five Keyblade Wielders, and then turned to walk back down the hallway, and through a passage, up a flight of stairs, and down several corridors before he finally returned to his study where Master Yen Sid and Oswald were awaiting him. He went to a chair and took a seat as he remained silent while Master Yen Sid looked to where a simple leather-bound journal was laid before him, and then turned his attention to his former student, who seemed genuinely mournful for reasons that, while he understood, didn't seem to fit the upcoming events entirely.

"Mickey, do not mourn anything – this must happen," Master Yen Sid stated.

"He's just a boy...and I know he didn't want this for him...or..." Oswald sighed.

"I know it must be hard, brother, but listen, we need to be ready for what is coming. Master Yen Sid has something important to tell you," he said as King Mickey looked up.

"Alright, then, what is it?" the aged wizard looked to him and pushed the journal forward, which King Mickey took lightly before he unwound the cord that bound it closed and looked to the name written in the journal.

"By this time next year, I believe much of the truth will have already come out...and Sora will be closer to the reality of which he must accept coming to pass," Master Yen Sid told him calmly.

"I see...so...we're almost out of time..." King Mickey looked down.

"I'm afraid so. We best prepare ourselves, and the Keyblade Bearers," the Grand Master of the Keyblade said calmly as King Mickey looked almost sorrowfully on the name written neatly in faded ink upon the parchment paper.

"He wanted them to have more peace than this...he wanted them to not have to worry about this until they were older..." Master Yen Sid smiled.

"He knew it wouldn't be possible. That is why all of us were informed of what would come and how to assist them. In knowing this, and in him preparing us, I believe he gave both of them one of the greatest gifts someone could ever be given: a guiding light," he said.

"I hope so; I just don't want them to be hurt from learning the truth." Oswald smiled encouragingly.

"I think that we'll be okay. Both of them are strong, and they can handle what comes their way – besides, they have friends that will stick by them through anything!" he stated. King Mickey smiled.

"Right...I will inform who I can and begin to prepare for the coming year." Master Yen Sid nodded.

"Wise choices, we mustn't waste a single moment of time for what is to come," he told them both.

"Of course..." With that, Master Yen Sid stood and took the journal back before looking to King Mickey.

"Do not despair. They have their comrades and their indomitable will to help guide them through the coming trials – all they need to do is believe in themselves." The Grand Master stepped towards the fireplace, grabbing a handful of soot-looking powder before stepping into the fireplace as he threw the powder down and stated his destination: Halloween Town. Oswald said his goodbyes, and followed out in the same fashion with another destination in mind, and that was a world known as Rosecross.

 _"I won't despair, but the storm ahead is going to be unlike anything we've faced before..."_

 **{…..}**

 _I won't let go. I'll be right here..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: We're almost done! This story has 2 chapters left. Please look to the note at the end of this story for an announcement of the next story.

Preview:

"Not this stupid train again!"

"Well, hello dearies! Sora, how are you?"

"I've got a feeling something's coming, don't you?"

Chapter 14: A Little Spark


	14. Chapter 14: A Little Spark

Chapter 14: A Little Spark

 **{Disney Castle: October 1st 2013, 6:01am}**

A resounding crash went through the hallway that the Keyblade Wielders lived on. It was far too early in the morning and the noise would have startled most of the residence in the castle; however, the shouts coming from upstairs was enough of a give-away to inform the few who were up and listening that it was merely a typical day, with Sora handling one of his students who didn't seem quite keen on getting up.

"NO! I'M NOT DOING IT AGAIN!"

"Roxas, you're being stupid! We have to go," Sora stated as looked at the blonde boy who was holding onto his bedpost in refusal to leave, while Sora tried to find a way to placate the blonde.

"I'm not going to leave! That train can't happen again!" sky-blue eyes looked to cyan ones as Kairi and Namine watched in faint amusement as Sora went to Roxas and wrapped his arms around his waist as he began tugging on him to remove the impertinent blonde.

"Roxas, I am not amused by this, and if you don't let go of the fucking bedpost, I am going to drag you kicking and screaming! Now, LET GO!" Sora tugged on Roxas again, digging his heels into the hardwood floor as he narrowed his eyes at him and clenched his fingers into the boy's stomach.

"NO! I WON'T DO IT! I WON'T! I'M NOT GETTING ON THAT DAMN TRAIN AGAIN!

"It's not that bad! Would you just _let go_ of the fucking bedpost?!" Roxas shook his head.

"No!" Sora sighed.

"Fine, I have no choice..." Roxas momentarily thought Sora would leave him alone, but that thought changed when he felt an electrical jolt race through him, and mere seconds later, he collapsed from the bedpost and into Sora's arms as he dragged him backwards towards the others.

"You shocked him, didn't you?" asked Riku.

"What the hell do you think?"

Roxas slumped to the ground, unconscious, as Sora shook his head and looked to see how they were going to move Roxas, now that the boy was unresponsive. Taking in a deep breath, Sora moved to slip his arms under the boy's and began to drag him out of the room and down the hallway. Kairi and Namine had known this morning was going to be interesting only because they knew that Roxas wasn't fond of the train that had delivered them to the Mysterious Tower, where they had first met Master Yen Sid and had been informed that Sora would be their teacher. Namine was fond of the memory because it was the day that they had confirmed their new path in life and began their training as Keyblade Wielders.

"Is he going to be okay?" asked Namine.

"Yea, I just shocked him a bit to get him loose. Riku? Can you give me a hand? I need to get him to the staircase so we can wake him up."

The silver-haired Keyblade Master nodded, grabbing Roxas's legs and helping Sora walk down the rest of the hallway until they reached the staircase. Sora was quick to lay him down and summon an orb of water with the Aquara spell before he doused Roxas with it. Kairi and Namine would be quick to admit that Roxas's panic about the train that lead to the Mysterious Tower could be a potential problem; however, now that he had gotten a good shock to his system, they didn't worry nearly as much.

Taking in a deep breath, Sora crouched and looked down at his student, who groaned, holding a hand to his head as he looked around and found himself looking to the grand staircase that lead to the main floor of the castle. Huffing, Roxas looked to Sora, who smiled as he glowered, knowing very well that he wasn't escaping the ride on the train to the Mysterious Tower.

"I...guess I'm not getting out of this one, am I?" he asked.

"No, you never were. Come on, we're going to be late." Roxas stood and the group of five Keyblade Wielders made their way down the staircase before going down a hallway to the western area of the castle. From there, they went down another set of stairs before finally making it to an underground area beneath the castle that seemed to be a station of some kind. Awaiting them was a violet train embossed with golden rune-styled details accompanied by moons and stars.

"All aboard..."

 **{Mysterious Tower: 6:20am}**

Master Yen Sid hummed as he looked out the window of his tower, awaiting Sora and the other's arrivals. The aged wizard currently had someone else visiting him until they arrived and was listening to the report that the boy was reading off with concern in his eyes. In their world, war was still raging with another entity that was on par with Xehanort, and due to that, they had long since gone to extreme measures in order to protect their world and the ones they cared for. However, the boy standing before him was a remarkable exception to the situation their world was in only because of the bloodlines which he carried within him, and his talent in bearing the weapons they used against the evil that was attempting to decimate their world.

"The Heartless have made a few breaks with the rest of the Darkness; however, the scale of them varies depending upon which region they appear in. China, Japan, and Great Britain as well as France and Germany are the most affected areas in our world. Other than that, our weapons seem to have quite the effect on them, despite the fact of it not being Keyblades," the boy finished.

"I appreciate you coming out like this. I do hope I'm not taking you away from anything of great importance." Master Yen Sid looked to the boy with his fair skin, white hair, mismatched eyes, and black-and-red lined military-style uniform. The boy appeared as prepared for war as Yui had been when he'd first come through the portal during the events of the Dream Drop.

"No, I was asked to come here, Master Yen Sid. The chief is well aware of the situation and that Xehanort will more than likely work alongside the darkness within our world, seeing as it's quite strong," he stated.

"I see...and you...are you handling this well? I know it was quite a shock after everything you'd gone through." A small smile came to his features.

"I figured I would be in for hell when I chose to take this path. I can handle whatever's thrown at me and come out on top of it, no problem," he said as he placed the report back atop Master Yen Sid's desk.

"I assumed so. Regardless, I would like to ask if you would be willing to meet with the boy today?" he inquired as golden and crimson eyes looked to him in a slightly wide state.

"Oh, um...I suppose I could speak with him momentarily." the aged wizard looked at the boy standing before him.

"Are you concerned? I assure you, the boy is quite welcoming to others. Yui was welcomed with open arms, and you are well aware that he is not a human, either," he said as the boy glanced to the side.

"Sir, I've been outcast by a great deal of people. The people I work with haven't condemned me; however, I know there are many who would, if they had the chance. I'm not an alley or an enemy to so many people...only because I'm an outcast, a freak of nature..." Master Yen Sid came forward and placed his hands upon the boy's shoulders.

"Quite the opposite in my eyes. You, young man, have done many things both great and small because you had to, you've overcome all obstacles and odds in the name of those you love, and you've put your life on the line and overcome the chances of death multiple times because you knew, without question, that if you stopped moving forward, those you held dear to your heart would die. I see you as an inspiration and a remarkable person. I believe a certain lady in your world does as well, am I wrong?" Master Yen Sid inquired.

"Thank you, Master Yen Sid. If what you say is true, then yes, I would like to meet Sora and the others today, if that's acceptable...however, on the case of my name..." the wizard smiled.

"No need for covering up the truth. Soon enough I believe you and many others will be on the front lines with us, and trust me when I say this: knowing one another as family will create a bond greater than anything the darkness can cut through," he stated as the boy nodded.

"When will they be here?" the wizard looked to the clock on the wall.

"I believe soon. We are supposed to meet at seven o'clock; however, Sora has a particular student who may very well give him some grief about boarding the train to come here," he said as the boy looked out the window.

"I had no complications with the train...did he have a bad experience in the past with it?" Master Yen Sid laughed slightly.

"He...chose to engage a rather interesting side of Master Sora's personality and paid for it," he stated. The boy smiled a bit.

"Then I can't wait to see what he'll be like, I'm sure we'll get along well."

 **{Train: 6:45am}**

"Not this stupid train again!" Roxas felt Sora kick the back of his leg, causing him to jolt in faint pain as sky-blue eyes narrowed at him.

"You'll live, I'm sure..." Sora stated as he leaned against the wall of the train, watching the scenery of particles of light and mist roll by them.

"So, um...what are we going to see Master Yen Sid for, exactly?" the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master glanced towards them.

"We're getting everyone fitted for battlefield attire," he said as Riku took in a deep breath, relaxing for the ride, and the others within the cabin tensed in panic, unsure of what was going to come of the statement they had just received.

"Does that mean we're going to be out in the field?" sky-blue eyes met aquamarine, light-blue, and ocean-blue eyes.

"Not exactly, but that means we need to be prepared for the worst," Sora told them.

"So you're expecting us to go to war?" he shook his head.

"No, I don't...but we can't let that be a ruled-out possibility..."

The boy went quiet and the others remained momentarily still, choosing to leave him be for the time being. Sora had been given an interesting letter from Master Yen Sid yesterday morning that had to some degree concerned him only because of what it had stated within. There were more reports coming in, and that resulted in more worlds needing additional attention.

Sora had theorized already alongside Riku that Xehanort was trying to thin out their forces; however, he was having a difficult time of it, only because of the allies they had within other worlds being able to fight the Heartless. He had also been informed in that letter that today, a person from a world that had allied with them would be coming by to give a full report and would remain at the tower to greet them personally and speak with them, while Roxas, Namine, and Kairi were getting their clothing from the Three Good Fairies.

Personally, he liked meeting new allies, and this one Master Yen Sid had promised was most interesting and had proven to be quite effective as a combatant alongside his teammates against the Heartless and Nobodies. Sora had gotten the feeling from that statement that this person Master Yen Sid wanted him and Riku to speak with could be a candidate for a Keyblade – which, considering how close some of the people were working with them, it wasn't too far-fetched – and wanted their opinions upon it.

 _"Is there a new Keyblade Wielder from another world? If so, what does that mean?"_

The train stopped and Sora looked towards doors as they opened to the green walk way that lead towards the Mysterious Tower. Taking in a deep breath, Sora stepped off the train, and the others followed, allowing the train to leave from its stop and return to wherever it went when it wasn't in use. Roxas, Namine, and Kairi followed Sora and Riku quietly, not knowing what to expect as they started down the path, looking at the glowing flowers and the simplistic trees alongside the gleaming stars in the sky.

Sora kept walking until they reached the doors, and then he glanced behind him once to make sure everyone was with them - only because the Heartless could appear on the grounds of the Mysterious Tower – before opening the door up and letting the others go in before entering himself and closing it behind him.

"Time to climb some stairs," said Riku as he started up the stairwell, and Sora followed with Kairi while Roxas and Namine began to as well.

"Why does he have so many stairs? And portals and doors? And rooms? And more of portals, doors, stairs, and rooms?" the two Keyblade Masters looked to Roxas, who sighed.

"It's probably a defense mechanism to protect against unwanted visitors," Riku explained.

"So, it would do you well to not become an unwanted visitor, Roxas. We may have to start coming here more often..." the blonde frowned.

"These staircases are like your training sessions – _cruel and unforgiving,_ " Roxas stated.

"Good, it'll build up your leg muscles." Sora kept walking up, and the others followed through the first portal and then the first stairwell was crossed as they continued up, knowing that Master Yen Sid was well aware that they were already present, and while they remained silent for the most part, Sora did continue to think over the letter he had received yesterday, piecing the information together as slow as possible.

 _Dear Master Sora,_

 _I am aware that you plan to bring yourself, Master Riku, Princess Kairi, and your students Roxas Lyster and Namine Olamayne to my tower soon, and I would prefer it if you would please come on October 1st at seven o'clock in the morning. I have a guest coming from another world, and he has spoken to the leader of the society he works with, and they have elected to join us after we spoke with them while you were away in Twilight Town. Knowing this, I have the intention of requesting him to remain at the Tower long enough for you and Master Riku to meet him and have a conversation while Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather handle Roxas, Namine, and Princess Kairi._

 _He will tell you of the situation taking place in their world, and I believe you will do well to meet him – the two of you share much in common, and I feel having a comrade of such high caliber will aid you in a great degree._

 _However, there is a problem of many of our allied worlds seeing an increase of Heartless, and recently, a series of new monsters have been appearing. Xehanort may have begun preparation for his next phase of operation, and I need you and Master Riku to take as many allies as you can in assisting you such as this world will. I suggest you and Master Riku decide whether or not to speak to King Mickey about such issues and then make the judgment of whether or not you should seek to divulge these details to Princess Kairi, Roxas, and Namine. I look forward to seeing you, Master Riku, Princess Kairi, Roxas, and Namine soon._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Master Yen Sid._

Knowing those details, Sora was both excited and anxious to meet the new person who had joined their list of allied worlds. Momentarily he recalled meeting Yui Amane and Jack Frost for the first time and could only smile. Both were energetic and wonderful fighters, but they were also good friends that, even though he hadn't seen them in quite some time, he sincerely missed and looked forward to seeing soon. Putting those thoughts aside, Sora prepared to meet the new person Master Yen Sid wanted to introduce them to as they slowly climbed the staircases, passed through the gleaming portals, and went between the chamber-like rooms from one door and out the other as they finally reached the last flight of stairs before taking in a deep breath as Sora glanced back to see Roxas taking in a deep breath as he tried to reason out what to make of the final flight of stairs before huffing as he started up them with the others.

"Once we arrive, Riku and myself have to meet a new ally of ours; however, the three of you need to go on to the set of double doors in the study to speak with the Three Good Fairies, okay?" Sora stated.

"Alright...um...but won't we have to wait for them to get us?" the chestnut-haired Keyblade Wielder looked towards them out of the corner of his eyes.

"They'll be waiting for us, I'm sure...we've put this off...admittedly..." the boy turned back towards the last few stairs and made it to the portal with the others when a sudden loud crash went off.

"What was that?" asked Namine.

"Come on!"

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, and Namine bolted through the portal and towards the door where the study was, only to find nothing present except a faint scent of burning straw, which led Sora to believe that a broom had been involved with the incident pertaining to the explosion. Sighing, the Keyblade Master slightly relaxed and started forward to the study door before knocking as the door slightly opened and they were allowed in. Seated at his usual spot was Master Yen Sid, waiting patiently with the Three Good Fairies nearby their door, while standing off to the corner was a person in black and red clothing. Sora stepped forward, smiling to the aged Wizard and then turned his attention to the Three Good Fairies.

"Well, hello, dearies! Sora, how are you?" asked Flora as she stepped forward.

"I'm good, Miss Flora. It's nice to see the three of you again..." the two other fairies came to Sora, who smiled slightly.

"As it is you; now, I heard we have three dears to help prepare for a few upcoming missions? Your students, I believe?" Fauna inquired.

"Yes, Miss Fauna; this is Kairi, Namine, and Roxas..." the three of them stepped forward, and the three fairies nodded.

"Come with us, dearies; we'll get some clothes made for your journey ahead while the Masters speak with our guest," stated Merriweather as the three Keyblade Wielders followed the fairies behind the double doors, which shut with a snap as Master Yen Sid stood.

"Master Sora and Master Riku, it is quite pleasant to see you here," Master Yen Sid stated as the two younger Masters bowed while the wizard returned it with a faint tilt of his head.

"It's good to see you as well, Master Yen Sid..." the wizard settled down, and the person in dark clothing remained in the corner, out of the way.

"Thank you for coming, now, I'd like to introduce our newest addition to our allies, and my guest for the day," he said as he waved his hand forward and the person in question stepped towards them, allowing Sora and Riku to get a full look at them.

The boy had white, messy hair that was slightly mused and spiked in specific areas - which reminded Riku slightly of Sora's own messy hair – his skin was pale and clear, his features small but distinct in an almost pixie or elvish sort of fashion that was seconded only by the faint point of his ears. However, his clothing was a sharp statement of him belonging to a society which had people in war, which was evident due to the military style of the jacket, which was black, red-lined, bore the symbol – a multi-point silver cross with runes – of the society of which he worked for. His gloves were black, his pants matching, a black and red lined belt with a pouch at the back, and an attach piece was present and added to a series of patches that seemed to be almost like a rank of some kind.

There were seven red crosses on the silver-white bar above the cross-symbol, and next to the two was a circle that had a red E on a black background. Lastly was a red button of some kind with golden chains that went across the chest to the boy's right shoulder.

That allowed them to look at the last few details of him, which was the sharp red scar on his face that went over his left eye in an almost cross shape but veered slightly across his cheek and went to his forehead in the shape of an inverted star. His left eye was a sharp but beautifully rich crimson, while his right eye was a brilliant harvest gold with a mercury tone around the pupil. The boy stepped forward, black and red cuff-boots clacking slightly on the stone floor as he paused beside the desk.

"This is Allen Walker, he's the representative for his world known as Rosecross," Master Yen Sid stated clearly. Sora and Riku looked him over once more, and the boy smiled, showing off sharp fangs.

"It's nice to meet you both, I've been told good things about you..." Sora smiled, slightly nervous as he reached out his hand, and the boy returned with a firm but non-threatening grip.

"You, too, Allen? Right?" he asked.

"Yes, and what are your names?" Riku shook his hand and then looked to the boy once more.

"I'm Riku Hirigaya, good to meet you, Allen," he said.

"Nice to meet you as well, Riku, and I suppose this means that you're Sora Seiren? It's nice to meet you." another small smile which showed off his teeth, and Sora jolted as he put the pieces together.

"You're not a human, are you?" he inquired slightly spooked. Allen sighed before looking into sky-blue eyes.

"I'm a hybrid, actually. You see, in my world, we've been at war for the better half of a century with a person known as the Millennium Earl, he's killed thousands of us...in an attempt to destroy our world and whichever one he can get his clutches upon. I'm one of the front-line fighters for the Black Order, I'm a wielder of a specialized weapon that was designed to help us combat the monsters the Earl creates known as Akuma, which are creatures created from the sorrow of the human heart..." Sora and Riku glanced to one another.

"That sounds a great deal like the Heartless and the Nobodies," Riku stated.

"To a degree it is; however, Akuma are creatures that are created when someone calls back a dead person and then are killed for the machine to wear their skin like a coat. They evolve by killing and are in major numbers...they have levels ranging from one to four...and we've heard a few rare rumors about a singular level five Akuma, yet there have been no visual reports of it." Allen stopped talking, and Sora looked to him.

"Seems like neither of us have it easy. But all the same, it's good to have you on our side, Allen...by the way...what's your job, exactly?" the white-haired youth smirked.

"I'm an Exorcist, I have a weapon known as Innocence, which allows me to destroy the Akuma and even fight the Noah, who are humans of supernatural talent that have sided with the Millennium Earl," Allen explained as the two Keyblade Masters glanced down.

"Could you give us a description of the Noah? If they've sided with the Earl, then we need to keep an eye out for them." the Exorcist looked down.

"Gray-skinned, golden-eyed, and they have black crosses on their forehead almost like a circlet," Allen stated.

"Good, we'll keep an eye out. Undoubtedly, the Earl will seek a partnership with Xehanort, considering they're basically out for the same agenda..." the white-haired Exorcist smiled before looking down.

"I suppose I should also inform you of my abilities and my heritage, so there aren't any misunderstandings or surprises...well...as best as I can do..." Allen looked to his left hand before removing the glove, exposing a black hand with long, glossy black nails, and a green, glowing cross atop it.

"What is that?!" the Exorcist smiled.

"The weapon known as Innocence. There are a few types, and mine is known as a parasite-type and lives within my body...each type of Innocence also possess a name. My own is known as Crowned Clown; however, I'll show you what it's capable of another time so not to draw any Akuma here; if you're shot by their bullets, you'll die in seconds," he stated.

"Good to know..." Allen replaced his glove and then looked to the wizard, who nodded.

"I have elected to inform you of Allen's heritage so that you aren't distrusting of his words, and I wish for you to listen first and then, please, understand where he is coming from," Master Yen Sid said calmly.

"That's perfectly fine..." the wizard glanced to Allen, who remained silent and calm as the Grand Master of Keyblades looked at the two young Masters.

"Allen is half-Noah and half-Vampire. He was born this way roughly a hundred and ninety-eight years prior. His mother and father are both deceased, and he is a General within the Black Order now because of his abilities and his heritage being of great use to them," the wizard finished while Sora and Riku looked at the white-haired youth.

"He's...a vampire?" sky-blue eyes looked Allen over, and the boy merely smiled.

"This is going to be interesting, but...I think we'll be fine. Thank you, Allen, for choosing to side with us, and I promise, if there's anything we can do, let us know and we'll help you out," he said. Allen smiled in return.

"Thank you, Sora, Riku...well...I suppose I should be going, thank you." The boy bowed and excused himself silently.

"I hope you found him interesting," stated Master Yen Sid. Sora smiled.

"Definitely, I like him – I can't wait to work with him." Riku rolled his eyes.

"Of course you are...but, Master Yen Sid...is he really..." the wizard nodded.

"Yes, Riku, he is a vampire, and quite powerful. But no fear, he is quite capable of handling himself," he stated.

"Oh, good, otherwise, I'd be worried about him."

 **{Train: 7:40am}**

Allen boarded the train, smiling as he felt a small golden golemn slip out of his jacket sleeve before flying in front of him as a projection of the black-haired, dark-eyed chief of the Black Order's Head Quarters, Komui Li, appeared before him. He took no time in explaining that the meeting had gone well; however, he was quite curious about the chestnut-haired boy he had met.

"Allen? Is something the matter?" the boy shook his head.

"No, I like Sora, I think we'll get along good, and Riku could probably keep Kanda on his toes, no problem. But...I just..." he looked down, and Komui frowned.

"I trust your instincts, Allen; if something is awry, then you need to tell me so that I can help you," he said.

"I can't quite place it, but..."

"What?" crimson and gold eyes looked to Komui.

"I've got a feeling something's coming, don't you?" the chief of the Black Order hummed and then nodded.

"Then we'll be on the lookout for whatever is lying in wait. I believe the Ark Unit can be relied upon for this mission?" Allen smirked.

"Naturally, Chief Komui...we can handle it, no problem."

 **{….}**

 _When the rain falls I won't let go..._

 **{…...}**

Author's Note: There will not be a preview because the next chapter is the final one in this story. However, allow me to explain the above interaction. Yes, that is Allen Walker from -Man, and yes, he is inspired to be a bit different than the one portrayed in the anime; however, I hope you find him interesting, and no worries, he'll reappear again in other stories, as will many other characters.

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, please let me know what you think.


	15. Chapter 15: How About An Adventure?

Chapter 15: How About An Adventure?

 **{Mysterious Tower: October 1st 2013, 8:40am}**

Master Yen Sid looked to the two boys in front of him and sighed as he listened to the sound of the train pulling away from the station at the tower as it headed back towards the portal that had been opened up to return Allen to his own world. However, his mind was on more important details at the time being, and that was informing the two Masters before him of a few key details and could only hope that the they would be prepared to take on an additional task.

"There is no need to worry for Allen Walker's safety. That boy has been through some harrowing events in his life as it stands; nonetheless, I would like to inform you of something rather vital that pertains to our friend," Master Yen Sid stated.

"What's that?" the wizard glanced towards the area where Kairi, Roxas, and Namine were presently being seen by the Three Good Fairies.

"In recent months, several other Bearers of the Keyblade, or should I say...potential Bearers, have surfaced, and one of those candidates is Allen Walker, as well as several others of which we have our eye upon," Master Yen Sid explained. The two Masters looked nothing short of shocked.

"Allen's a Keyblade Wielder?" asked Sora with evident concern.

"He has only shown the potential to become one. King Mickey, myself, and Master Oswald have kept our eyes on the candidates and chosen not to intervene nor inform them of their possible abilities as Bearers; however, we have also kept it from the two of you and the only other remaining Keyblade Master alive, in addition, the few Keyblade Bearers that were still present prior to the two of you being chosen also were, until recent days, unaware." Riku glanced to the aged wizard and then looked to Sora.

" _Why haven't you said anything?_ We could have lost who knows how many Keyblade Wielders by this point!" Riku stated sharply.

"Listen, you must understand, we weren't confident enough to divulge this information until recently. That is because there was a lack of sufficient evidence to state that we were indeed dealing with the power of the Keyblade." The two Masters looked to one another.

"Who else has that potential to become a Keyblade Bearer?" Riku glanced to Sora again, taking in the faint edge to his voice making him sound and almost appear older than he was. His sky-blue eyes took on an eerie glow to them in the slightly dim light of the study, and his energy changed to a much older and more predatory one. Cyan eyes looked the boy over slightly and then turned his attention back to Master Yen Sid, who took in a deep breath as he looked to Sora.

"You still remind me of that boy..." the chestnut-haired sixteen-year-old took a tentative step back.

"Please just answer the question, Master Yen Sid," Sora stated calmly as Riku felt the boy's energy prickle and shift.

"I see, very well. As you have been told, Allen Walker is one of the potential Keyblade Bearers, as well as a few others that for the time being we are still uncertain of. The two you need to have potential concern for are Allen Walker, and Yui Amane." Sora and Riku looked to the Master with nothing short of surprise.

"Yui? He's..." the wizard nodded.

"I know it may seem surprising; however, his capabilities and qualities are adequate, thus, the Keyblade seems to be tilting towards him as another Bearer," he clarified.

"He has enough to deal with, as does Allen! The two of them don't need that!" Master Yen Sid looked to Sora, who had an expression he had seen many times before within the eyes of his former student Soren, who had as much compassion for his allies as the boy before him did then; however, another shared emotion was the pain of realizing someone else's life would be taken apart by the Keyblade's will once again, and Master Yen Sid saw it now in Sora as he had once seen within Soren that stated if he could remove them from the equation, if he could severe the tie to the Keyblade and grant them the luxury of avoiding it's hardships at any cost, he would; even though he was well aware that he couldn't.

"Master Sora, I understand your feelings towards the situation; however, I need you to understand that in this instance, we have all but control upon the final choice made for those two, and the others that are presently being watched," Master Yen Sid stated calmly.

"I know...I'm not foolish enough to think that the Keyblade's choices can be stopped, and I would happily have them fight by my side...but...I know this time the Keyblades aren't going to return to nothingness like they did after the Keyblade War a hundred years ago...this time...this time they'll remain with the Bearer, until that person dies...all those Keyblades I possess? They're trapped with me until I die...the same goes for Riku, Kairi...Roxas...Namine... _it puts a brand on us that we can't ever escape..._ "

"You are rather wise for your age, Master Sora, for you consider the future and the trials that will lie ahead of us all, even when Master Xehanort is destroyed. I respect you for those thoughts, and for your humble consideration of the life of your comrades; however, do not allow such emotions to cloud your judgment. I believe there will come a time when you have no choice but to remain jaded towards the chances that may be taken," Master Yen Sid told the boy, who slowly nodded.

"I understand...I guess it just bothered me a bit..." the wizard shook his head.

"Master Sora and Master Riku, guide Princess Kairi, Roxas, and Namine well and brace for the coming adventures and trials that you will face...we are not far off from the beginning of the true battle," he said. The two nodded, and finally heard the doors beside them creak open.

"It seems our time has ended. I hope the three of you have gotten everything you need?" Roxas nodded, holding up a large canvas bag of sorts that was hunter green, Namine followed with a white one, and Kairi did the same with a pink one.

"Yes, they even made sure we had gloves," Kairi stated with a smile.

"Considering that the pair you have aren't very well made, it's good that you'll have some durable sets now." Sora came over to her and took her hand before looking to the three fairies.

"Oh, the two of you also have some things we've made for you as well, dearies," Merriweather handed Sora a blue canvas bag and Riku a gray one before smiling as she looked back to them.

"Thank you, but don't we have enough gear?" Flora smiled.

"This is just in case you need extra clothing at some point. Also, there's a pouch in each one of those for you that we got from a friend of ours, she said it would carry everything you need and never weigh more than a coin purse. When you travel, put your belongings in there, that way if your clothing tears or wears down, you have something to put them in. Also, Sora, we have some new shoes in there for you – it would seem that yours are starting to wear down in the soles after the Dream Drop," she said. Sora looked at the black rubber soles of his shoes and laughed faintly.

"Yea...you have a point...thank you..." Fauna smiled.

"Oh, no worries, dear. Now, I believe we also gave you two new outfits that should work well for you when needs be. Riku, you have them as well, we gave the others four new outfits to wear if they need them," She explained as Kairi, Roxas, and Namine came to stand beside Sora and Riku.

"Thanks, we would be having to replace our clothing all the time with how many battles we get into..." Merriweather shook her head.

"At least you Keyblade Bearers aren't scraping up your clothing like some of our other customers, those wizards at that one guild in the world Magnolia always have to have their clothing replaced," she said with a shake of her head.

"Well, at least we don't give you as much trouble..." Sora smiled a bit and nodded.

"It's no trouble dear, but you best be on your ways. There's a lot to do before too long, and I believe Master Sora and Master Riku have a few more training sessions planned for the three of you," stated Flora.

"Yep, we sure do. So hop to it!" Roxas hung his head and started for the door with the others when Master Yen Sid spoke up.

"Master Sora? May I speak with you momentarily?" Sora looked to the wizard and nodded.

"That's no problem. Kairi? You and the others go on and wait at the exit of the tower, I'll be there soon," he stated.

"Okay, we'll see you soon..." Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather waved goodbye, and then the door shut, and Sora turned his attention to Master Yen Sid.

"This is about my request to take them world hopping, isn't it?" Sora inquired. Master Yen Sid nodded slowly.

"Yes, and I must ask...do you think it wise after the farce of the prior world tour you took your parents on." The boy flinched.

"With all due respect, I believe this time will be different..." Master Yen Sid frowned.

"I do not believe it is wise...your last attempt could have cost people their lives, Sora," he stated. Sky-blue eyes narrowed.

"Master Yen Sid, I do not want my students first times in another world to be when we're going to war with Xehanort for keeps...that would do nothing but cause them pain...they need to learn to appreciate the worlds for what they are and see them as more than just battle grounds!" Sora said sharply.

"Do not speak brashly, Sora Seiren!" the wizard stood, and the boy gave him a challenging look.

"In all honesty, I didn't need to ask for your permission; however, I was wanting to grant you the respect you deserve...if you are just going to shut me down and refuse me the right to teach my students as I see fit, then tell me what changed your mind?! Once you seemed as if you wanted me to seek out the path I saw fit for myself and to teach those who were granted to me as students. Now you suddenly expect me to just do whatever you tell me? _No! I won't just bow to you!_ _You don't own me!_ " Sora's voice turned sharp and stabbing, causing the aged wizard to nearly flinch as he looked the boy over.

"It has been many years since I have been spoken to in such a manner," Master Yen Sid stated as he regained his composure.

"Let me guess, Soren? Why does everyone want to _relate me to someone like him?_ He's connected to Organization Thirteen, right?" the wizard looked him over.

"No, Soren has no connection to the Organization. He did know Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort when they were younger, and he was quite an excellent student...however, Sora, you shouldn't be ashamed to be compared to someone so noble. Soren was an amazing and talented Keyblade Bearer, and later, a miraculous Master...and I was honored to be his Master..." Sora looked down and took in a deep breath.

"What was he like?" sky-blue eyes looked to him, his body visibly tense.

"Remarkable, talented, kind-natured, strong-willed, quick-witted, and incredibly brave. In many ways, the two of you share common traits...including your knack for _trouble_ , becoming quite _mouthy_ towards others, and your apparent lack of consideration towards _authority_ ," Master Yen Sid gave Sora an imploring look, and the boy smirked faintly.

"You think we would have gotten along?" the wizard sighed.

"The two of you would have an innate habit of getting yourselves into as much trouble as you, Riku, Roxas, Namine, and Kairi do today," he said with a shake of his head.

"Master Yen Sid...I..." the wizard smiled.

"No need to apologize. Your courage and your indomitable soul is what has always convinced me that you are the right person for the job of training Roxas and Namine swiftly enough to prepare them for the battlefield...and that is also why I will trust you to do them right when they travel alongside you for their trip between worlds," Master Yen Sid stated.

"You're going to..." Sora looked him over, and the wizard smiled.

"If you are willing to tell me what path you shall take," the Grand Master stated with a kind look.

"The path I took during my first adventure. However, I will be foregoing Monstro, Halloween Town, Christmas Town, Hollow Bastion, and _Final Rest._...naturally..." The wizard nodded, giving a slightly bemused smile at the evident spite in Sora's tone when discussing his last stop on his first adventure.

"Very well; however, I will make a recommendation. There is a world known as the Pride Lands, it is where your companion Simba hails from...I believe it will be a good example of...transitions in other worlds to match the environment..." Sora nodded.

"Thank you, sir; I will plan that with King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy...and make sure they'll prepare way stations for us," he stated.

"Good, now, be off. The others are waiting for you." Sora smiled, and said his goodbyes before exiting the room.

"My, he has grown quite a bit since we first met him," said Fauna.

"Has quite the mouth on him as well..." Master Yen Sid laughed faintly.

"Master Yen Sid? Is something the matter?" asked Flora.

"Not a thing, I was just recalling a moment from many moons ago..." the three Fairies looked to one another.

"What type of moment was it, Master Yen Sid?" asked Merriweather.

"Oh...just dealing with a troublesome child...that is all..." the three fairies smiled knowingly.

"Well, we must send a note to Miss Poppins to tell her that the carry pouches were greatly appreciated. I think they'll need them when the time comes for the true battle to begin," said Flora.

"I couldn't agree more..." with that, the three fairies left, and Master Yen Sid smiled as he looked out of his window at the top tower to see the Keyblade Wielders boarding the train.

 _"That day is so close...will we truly be ready? Will Sora be ready?"_

 **{Train: 11:20am}**

Sora yawned a bit, stretching as he leaned back in the seat next to Kairi aboard the train. The others seemed tired already, despite it only being early mid-day, and he was keen to remind them that they were going to begin a new form of training today that included something they had already been asked about in the past, and that it was at the time potentially a hazard; however, with the knowledge that things were indeed stirring, Sora had made a snap decision to add in something else for their preparation to transition to the field for battle.

"What kind of training do we have once we get back?" asked Namine.

"I think that the things Riku and I heard means we have no choice but to start pushing the training to upper level spells and skills. Namine, you haven't drawn another Keyblade, and while the Kingdom Keys are strong, they aren't strong enough for some foes...Kairi, you need to gain control on another one...Roxas, you need more training, and the four of you need more experience with my Drive Forms...after that...we need to begin Summon training and Flowmotion, as well as Limit Breaks..." Roxas groaned.

" _Great,_ death warmed over times twenty," he said.

"Oh, you'll live. Besides, you're going to need the help..." the group looked to Sora, who kept his eyes forward.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Kairi as she placed a hand on his.

"Master Yen Sid told us that there were some people who are showing signs of being potential Keyblade Wielders...Allen Walker, who we met today, and Yui Amane are amongst the numbers..." the group froze, Kairi putting a hand to her mouth in the process.

"Who's Yui Amane?" questioned Roxas.

"He helped us out in the Dream Drop...he's from a world known as Owari. It's been at war with vampires for the last nine years...recently they've joined forces with the Ghouls in their world and have become a fourteen-member unit known as Anteiku. Yui and one other person are the front runners." the two blondes looked down.

"Will we meet them at some point?" inquired Namine.

"I'm sure we will...Yui was partnered with Jack Frost during the events of the Dream Drop..." Sora looked out the window and remained quiet while Riku talked, but it only caused the others to watch him warily.

"Sora? Are you okay?" asked Kairi.

"I'm fine...I'm just worried about the possibility of all these new Keyblade Wielders coming to us...King Mickey is a Master, and Master Yen Sid no longer takes on students...so that falls to me and Riku to take on those students if we must..." Roxas frowned.

"Is that such a bad thing?" he probed.

"Not really, but that means more worlds will be infected with the Heartless, more people will be taken away from their families...their lives will be _changed forever_ by the Keyblade...that's a lot of turmoil to take on, and while I am aware that Yui is almost seventeen, Allen looks to be roughly the same age, and I'm not too worried about them because of their ages...but Master Yen Sid wouldn't tell us about the ages or the identities of the other candidates... _that_ only makes me worried..." Sora bit his lip in thought, clenching his fist in the cloth of his pants leg.

"Didn't he mention that there was one other surviving Master?" Riku stated as he looked to Sora.

"He did, but...he also said that Master was left over from the Keyblade War..." Kairi looked to the others.

"How did he say it, exactly?" questioned Namine.

"He said the only other surviving Master..." the group, including Riku, gave Sora a confused look.

"What did he mean by _surviving?_ " the chestnut-haired Keyblade Master looked down, feeling a bit ashamed for keeping this quiet.

"I'll explain later..." Roxas narrowed his eyes.

"How about you explain now?" Sora shook his head.

"Let's get back to Disney Castle first, and then I promise...I'll explain..." Kairi looked to Roxas and then to Sora as she tightened her grip upon his hand.

 _"He's genuinely afraid of what's coming...if he's tense about it...then that means this is going to be the worst battle we've ever been in..."_

 **{Disney Castle Training Hall: 12:20pm}**

The group of Keyblade Wielders stood in the training hall, Sora seeming to be a bit tense as he waited for them file in front of him as he kept his grip tense, the sensation of a Keyblade wanting to come to him catching his attention as he looked to the others. Explaining the history of the Keyblade Bearers was something Sora never dreamed he would have to do, and because there was so little of it known – at least, to their current knowledge – he could only do what he could, and while Riku knew some of the details because of his own research, there were details that only Sora himself knew because of Squall Leonhart explaining it to him after he was met with animosity in multiple worlds thanks to him wielding the Keyblade. Now, he was having to explain precisely what Master Yen Sid had meant when he said the only other surviving Keyblade Master. He only hoped that they would understand that even he didn't know the full story.

"So, what did Master Yen Sid mean by the whole only other surviving Keyblade Master thing?" asked Riku. Sora sighed and relaxed his tense grip, causing Oblivion to slide into his grasp. The others jolted, but he merely shook his head and kept it at his side.

"Sorry, this Keyblade does this sometimes...but anyways, let me explain from the beginning..." Sora sat upon the floor, and the others soon joined him as he took in a deep breath.

"Okay, what do you mean by that?" sky-blue eyes glanced them over.

"When I was first starting out, I had been met with some severe animosity in other worlds because of the Keyblade. After that last time in a world called Atlantica, I went back to Traverse Town and Squall Leonhart told me about the history of the Keyblade..." Riku nodded.

"Alright, but what happened?" Sora took in a steady breath.

"Squall told me that what happened to cause that wasn't anything to do with me personally...it was because of the events of the Keyblade War a century prior. During the War, there was so much chaos, destruction, and death that Keyblade Wielders became a stigma. A Keyblade used to mean you were a honored solider for a world and you were risking your life for their sake...after the thousands of lives lost in the Keyblade War that were both Bearers and civilians...anyone who had a Keyblade was the outcast...they were exiled, treated as if they were traitors, and...there were some who never returned to their families because of that..." Namine looked down.

"So, families were further split up because people began to hate Keyblade Wielders?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, but there was greater complication...and that dealt with something far worse...it's the reason that Master Yen Sid said what he did about the only other surviving Keyblade Master..." the boy paled faintly, and Kairi felt her stomach twist into an uncomfortable knot.

"Sora, do you mean that..." he nodded, looking down.

"The Keyblade Bearers, they were exiled, hated, treated as traitors, but...the Masters, and many others, weren't merely cast out..." the boy gritted his teeth, bracing for something that clearly made him feel ill at the notion.

"Weren't merely cast out? What are you talking about? The Keyblade has done a lot of good, right? It saved countless lives! It's stopped the darkness, it stopped the war from taking over and destroying everything, right?" asked Roxas. Sora shook his head.

"Not quite...it did save countless lives, it did stop the darkness...to a point...it didn't entirely stop the war from taking over. A Kingdom that connected the worlds was destroyed, its people taken away from their home world, the gateways that the Kingdom had forged with other worlds deteriorated, and the darkness began pouring out of its blood-soaked soil and into other worlds...someone, I wasn't told who, sacrificed themselves to break the remaining strands of the gateways...and left only a single change point for any future Keyblade Wielders for when the time came..." Namine looked down in thought before looking to Sora.

"What happened to the Masters? Judging from the way it's stated, there was a lot of them," she said calmly as the boy before her nodded.

"According to what I was told, there were roughly four hundred Masters across all worlds, but...out of the ten thousand Keyblade Wielders that entered the war, only around two thousand made it out, and within a year's time, only a hundred of them were left, fifty of them were Masters..." Roxas, Namine, Kairi, and Riku glanced to one another.

"H-How could that many Keyblade Wielders _just die?_ " Sora shook his head.

"I wish I knew, but I do know there were other enemies compared to what we have now. Squall did tell me that there was something called a Screamer and these people known as Chasers, but we weren't told details about them...he theorized that they killed them off...and ultimately, only a handful of Keyblade Wielders in general survived..."

"So, you're saying that the Keyblade Wielders were..." sky-blue eyes looked to them.

"They were exterminated, but it wasn't only the Darkness...it was the people in other worlds, as well..." Kairi put her hand to her mouth once again, shock filling her system as she took in what was said.

"So, you're telling me that people from other worlds willingly killed off Keyblade Wielders?" asked Riku.

"Yes, from what I know, the Keyblade Masters that survived were the one they called the Traitorous Hero, the person who struck the killing blow to the first incarnation of Xehanort, Master Xehanort Erebus himself survived, obviously...The Hidden Master, the one who took something valuable to the Kingdom and ran away with it to protect it...the Master of Winds, who I suppose was Ventus Alveria, the Stalwart Wolf was the title of another Keyblade Master, then there was King Mickey, and Master Yen Sid. Ventus is sleeping still, the Traitorous Hero is dead, the Hidden Master is still missing, and then there's the Stalwart Wolf...I don't know who that could be..."

"So, the Hidden Master, The Traitorous Hero, The Master of Winds, the Stalwart Wolf, King Mickey, and Master Yen Sid? That's only six...so that means the seventh..." Sora nodded.

"Master Xehanort Erebus," he said calmly.

"How many of those Masters are still living?" Sora huffed, feeling a faint twinge in his chest that caused him to clutch the front of his shirt as a pained hiss left him.

"Sora?" asked Kairi.

"I'm fine...it's Ventus again...he's probably thinking about the past..." Roxas looked him over.

"Ventus? Who's..." Riku looked to Roxas.

"Right now isn't the right time to ask about that," he said as Sora hissed again before shaking his head.

"No, don't worry. I'm okay, promise...anyways, the only thing I know about them is that there are literally only about eight of us in existence right now, that we know of..." Riku sighed.

"So our numbers used to be in an amount for an army, and now we're just about extinct...dammit...how...what are we going to do?" he asked. Sora looked to the others.

"We'll train harder and form alliances, we'll become stronger, and when the time comes for Xehanort to make his final move, we'll be there, ready and waiting...we won't let the changing of hands for us be undeserved...we'll prove these worlds wrong, and we'll stand against all the odds in our ways..." Roxas smiled.

"That means we'll be blistered and barely capable of coherent conversation," he said as he stretched, but all Sora did was smirk just a bit.

"That's what they did even if they were drawing their final breaths...we owe the Keyblade Bearers of the past that much."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get to work!" Sora stood and summoned Oathkeeper to his other hand before smiling as Way to the Dawn came to Riku, the White Kingdom Key appeared in the grasp of Namine, Destiny's Embrace formed to Kairi's hand, and Two Across settled into Roxas's.

"Let's begin..."

 **{…...}**

 _I'll be right here._

 **{…...}**

 **Song Used: Right Here by Ashes Remain**

Author's Note: This is the end of _**Kingdom Hearts: Revive**_. Thank you for reading this installment of _The World Tree Series_. Now, pay close attention, this is the set-up for the updates and when new stories will be coming out, due to me and my beta-reader's work schedules because the busking (street performing) season is starting.

 _ **Kingdom Hearts: Genesis**_ , will have _**Arc Updates**_. This will mean that the updates will not be as frequent; however, you will be getting between _5–9 chapters each time,_ so I hope that will make up for it.

 _ **Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Dreams – Final Mix**_ will be completed; however, it will be the last story to receive a Final Mix until the following stories are up and completed:

 **Kingdom Hearts: Genesis - #1 in Series**

 **Kingdom Hearts: Re-Verse - #2 in Series**

 **Kingdom Hearts: Fragments - #3 in Series**

 **Kingdom Hearts: Trance Step - #9 in Series**

 **Kingdom Hearts: Off The Grid - #10 in Series**

 **Kingdom Hearts: Yule - # 11 in Series**

Once these stories are up and completed, we will begin on the 12th installment of the series: _**Kingdom Hearts: The Lost Two – Part 1**_. In addition, there will be randomized posts of one-shots pertaining to the series, and full-length stories. More information will be disclosed on 12/21/2016; but know that if you get a release date for a full-length story, then that means the story is completed and we are just polishing it up.

Thank you for reading, and we look forward to reading your thoughts on _**Kingdom Hearts: Genesis**_ and _**Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Dreams – Final Mix.**_

Sincerely,

 _ShadowDragon94._


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